She's Bonnie I'm Clyde
by tempest-races
Summary: Nyssa is a good girl thrust into a hard life. She's thrown into the world of fast cars and fast crimes by Dom Toretto and his team, one of whom has become dear to her. What happens when thier world falls apart at the seams? Can it be put back together aga
1. Disclaimercopyright

Disclaimer: The Characters of The Fast and The Furious Belong to Universal Studios and it's partners. I am writing these stories for my enjoyment and that of my friends. I got no money and don't plan on making any with these stories. Unless someone from Universal wants to pay me to write for them for the third and following movies ;) The new characters, their cars, their (mis)adventures, and the story lines that aren't recognizable from the movie are mine, and mine alone. If you take them without asking for, and receiving, my permission I will deal with the issue. Can we tell this has happened a few times? ;)

AN: This is a rewrite of the original She's Bonnie, I'm Clyde. I wasn't ever truly happy with how some of it came out. It was pretty formal speech and some of it seemed sort of rough and out of character. I'm just fine tuning it a bit, adding more showing instead of telling to set up scenes, making people talk more like the would have in the movie and stuff. I'm not gonna mess with it too much or change the general idea of what happens. It should be more polished and flow better when it's done this time. I guess we'll see. I'd welcome opinions of those who read the original on if this version is any smoother and also the opinions of anyone who didn't read the original and still wants to read this version.

Peace out people and please feed the starving student author by reviewing the stories. By the way this story came before Adrenaline and introduces Nyssa, it's her story.


	2. First Race Night

She's Bonnie, I'm Clyde.

Chapter One - First Race Night.

"I just don't want to go Manda and that's final." Nyssa Williams informed her cousin as they sat in Manda's bedroom.

"But it'll be fun Nyssa; you'll meet lots of great people. Lots of hot guys will be there and nice cars too." Manda had no idea why her cousin _never _wanted to do anything fun.

"But Manda I don't know anyone at races, not even your friends that you go to these things with."

"You'll meet people there."

Nyssa had no idea why she bothered fighting her cousin on this one. Manda always won. She would end up going with her and having a horrible time. Every time she gave into Manda she ended up wishing she would have stood her ground. She was just not outgoing enough to fit in at this sort of thing. Manda had been trying to get her to go to a race night at this old warehouse for months. But all the girls wore next to nothing and most were there to try to pick up the winners.

They wanted to be prizes for winning racers. The idea of being like a trophy to some oversexed teenage male who thought he was the next Dale Ernharte Jr. made Nyssa sick. It was just not her style. She loved cars and racing but not the subculture of street racing.

"But Manda, I won't fit in. You know this."

"Nyssa, you will fit in if you try. If you just hang out around the fringes looking mad of course you won't fit in." Manda stood staring her cousin down with her hands on her hips. Nyssa sighed in defeat.

"I have nothing to wear Manda."

"You'll borrow something of mine."

"Fine. Let's get ready." Nyssa could see she had not a chance in hell of getting her cousin to give up. Plus if she refused she would be stuck at home alone all night because Manda would go without her. Her cousin could often be selfish in the extreme.

Manda dressed her cousin in tight leather pants in a kind of silver colour that set of Nyssa's tan. Then she put her in a white bra with a sheer electric blue tank over it. Nyssa had her own boots. They had a big chunky heal and sole, and buckles the whole way up to her knee from her ankle. Nyssa's style ran more to the funky then the extreme. Like she would wear the pants no problem but she would rather have a tank top or wife-beater then this shear thing pretending to be a top Manda made her wear. It made Nyssa feel like she was too on display, too much of a spectacle. She hated to stand out, she'd rather blend in.

Manda made her leave her hair down, another issue Nyssa would have fought her on if she thought she had a chance of winning. Her hair was over half way down her back and curly. The color she was told was black cherry. It was her natural hair colour, not enhanced in any way, much as people tended to insist she was lying when she told them that. It was basically dark red to Nyssa, she didn't see it as a big deal.

Both girls were tallish at five foot seven. They had the same type figure but Manda was naturally slim while Nyssa was not, she had to work for her shape and as such was quite muscular. As if the clothes and hair were not enough, Manda made her wear makeup. Nyssa was not even allowed to put it on herself. Manda did it for her.

When Manda was done Nyssa hardly knew herself in the mirror. The black eyeliner made her violet eyes look huge. Her eyes were such a strange color. She thought they were her best feature. They were a deep purple. Her skin was darker then Manda's but it was not all tan. She had some Latin background on her mother's side of the family. She was the exact opposite from her cousin in coloring.

Manda was blonde; blue eyed, and tanned dark on top of her naturally fair skin. The tan suited her. She was from the valley after all. She wore similar clothes to those she had picked out for Nyssa.

They headed down the stairs to wait for Manda's friend Evan to come get them. Manda was crushing on this guy but he was not very nice in Nyssa's book and he treated her cousin like crap.

Evan pulled up and honked out front. They ran out and got into his car.

"Wow, you girls look smokin. Some guy is gonna be very happy tonight." Evan leared at Manda, before turning his gaze to Nyssa in the rearview mirror.Nyssa barely managed to bite her tongue and not tell him off. She was not going to act like eye candy. She would go and try to have a good time seeing all these cars but she was not going to fuck some guy just because he won a car race.

She would rather have taken her own car but Manda had said no when Nyssa had brought it up. She said that it was better to just go because if cops came Evan had a better chance of getting away then they would.

She was right.

Nyssa had no idea how to race. She had a race car her brother had left her when he died. He had been a cop and was killed in the line of duty, in a drug bust gone wrong. He had let her help him build the car and she had loved every second. So in his will her brother had left the car to her, saying he knew she would take good care of it.

She brought herself back to the present. They had arrived in a warehouse district while she had been lost in her own world. She had no idea where they were or how she'd gotten there.

There were people everywhere. The sights were overwhelming. Flashing lights, revving cars, people of various races in groups standing talking and laughing. Girls were flirting with guys everywhere, and wearing even less then Nyssa. Nyssa was wearing a lot compared to a lot of the girls around. There was a tall, muscular guy with a shaved head holding court in the middle of the prettiest girls until some other pretty, dark girl scared them all off with one of the best lines Nyssa had ever heard.

"I smell sniff sniff skanks. Why don't you girls pack it in before I leave tread marks on your faces?" This girl was dressed similar to Nyssa. Since this dark girl was clearly something of an authority figure around the scene Nyssa figured maybe the way she was dressed was not skanky for the racing world. The thought made her smile.

The guy who'd been on the receiving end of the admonishment was clearly not impressed and the look he gave the girl would have made Nyssa run the other way. But all he said was, "Letty, I was just talkin."

This Letty girl obviously did not believe him but it seemed like it must be status quo for them because he just moved on and organized the first race. Two guys paid their money and they were about to race when a gorgeous blonde guy put up the slip to his car.

Nyssa was being filled in by Manda. Manda told her they guy was Dominic Toretto and Letty, the girl, had every reason to chase the skanks off because Dom had likely already slept with half of them. Even Manda did not know the blonde dude.

The four men raced and Dominic Toretto won. Dom _always_ won Manda told her. The other guy who lost his car took the ribbing from the crowd good humouredly. They were about to organize another race when there was a call from a man in a yellow Nissan Skyline.

"Cops! We got Cops! Go! Go! Go!"

Everyone ran for their cars. She was running toward Evan's car when she saw it take off, Manda in the front seat, looking terrified. Those asses took off without her! Now what? She wondered what would happen if the cops picked her up. Was street racing a misdemeanor or a felony? They would either keep her overnight or take her home to her step dad, who would flip out, she guessed.

There was no need to guess what would happen if she got taken home by the cops. She knew what would happen if she got taken home to him dressed like she was.

Since it was a weekday night her step dad was likely drinking off the stress of work and she would become a moving target. She was either going to have to kick the crap out of the guy or let him hit her. She was to the point of not caring in a lot of ways, if that happened. She figured the shit would hit the fan sooner or later. So who really cared if the cops brought her home and that happened tonight or some other night?


	3. Meet the Team

Chapter 2 Meet the Team.

The Toretto team all ran for their cars as soon as Leon called cops and took off. As Vince was speeding away he saw some red headed chick walking away from the alley. Walking! He squealed to a stop and yelled at her,

"Hey baby, you should run to your car and take off. This isn't gonna to be pretty when the cops get here. It sure ain't no time to walk anywhere."

"I have no car to run to, my ride took off on me. And I am not your baby." Nyssa was having a completely horrid time and did not want to be picked up by some chauvinistic jerk.

"This is not the time to argue about this, get in the car." He squealed to a stop just in front of her, blocking her path and waited for her to get in the car impatiently.

"Come on. Come on. Come on." He muttered. What made him care if she got caught he had no idea. He told himself he was just looking out for another racer, they were like a big group of friends when it came to being united against the cops. Every one of them that got taken in was another blow against the whole scene, against their whole life.

Nyssa looked at the blue car in front of her. The man inside the car was more then a little intimidating. But she heard the sirens coming and while she had thought she was ready to be caught she found she was scared of what would happen to her at home.

She decided to take the way out this person offered her. She knew it was crazy to get in a car with a stranger but was it better then getting picked up by the cops right? She decided to take her chance on this guy with the shaggy hair and scruffy beard. She jumped in his Nissan and they took off. They outran the cops easily, zigging and zagging through downtown L.A.

Vince looked over at the girl in his passenger seat. "Where do you want me to drop you off?" He asked. She didn't answer right away and he looked over at her again. She looked pensive and upset.

"Forget where you live or you just don't want me to know?" Vince knew he looked like a thug, he wouldn't be surprised if she was wondering what the hell she had been thinking getting in his car and sure as hell didn't want him to know where her house was.

"Nothing like that!" Nyssa stammered, embarrassed to find there was some truth to his guess. He'd stopped for her, even though she was a stranger, and she figured she should be a little more grateful for it then she was acting. "I just don't know where to tell you. I was staying with my cousin but she took off and left me behind to get picked up by the cops. I mean one second she's right there telling me about people then that guy in the skyline says cops and she abandons me just like that. She threw me to the wolves and she knew that was my first race night. Hell, I didn't even want to go! It was her idea. So I really don't want to go there. But if I go home to my stepfather I am going to catch real hell."

"Why?" Vince again didn't know why he cared, but found he really did want to know.

"Cause I was supposed stay with Manda at her house for the night and he'll want to know why I'm not with her. We weren't supposed to go out of her house. And then he'll want to know where the clothes came from. And why _I'm_ wearing them. And if he should find out I went to a street race, and ran from the cops with a strange guy I don't want to know what he'll do. And if he's been drinking I really don't want to think about what will happen. Maybe you could take me to the garage where I have my car stashed. Then I could stay in my garage with my car then pretend I just got home from Manda's tomorrow."

"Well you could come hang with us at our party for awhile if you don't know what you want to do. I can take you somewhere later if you decide." Vince couldn't have told anyone why he made the offer. He was not the one who picked up girls. He sometimes let them pick him up, but rarely the other way around.

"Ok, why not." Now she was going to a party at a strange house where there would be even more strange people? She felt the urge to put a hand to her forehead to see if she was feverish. But the plan did have merit. "Let Manda worry about me for awhile. Serves her right."

"Is this Manda Williams?" Vince internalized his groan.

"The one and only." Nyssa grimaced.

"If you want revenge on your cousin coming with me is the best thing to do." Vince smirked at the thought of getting one over on Manda Williams.

"Why is that?"

"Cause when you tell her you partied at Dom Toretto's she's going to be flippin. She's never been invited to our place but she wants to get on Dom worse then anything." Vince, and the rest of the team for that matter, had not missed Manda's thinly veiled looks of wanting sent Dom's way.

"You run with that Toretto guy she showed me?"

"Since third grade." They pulled up to the curb at Dom's house. "Here we are. This is our place."

There were cars everywhere. All imports, all slammed. She wished in that moment she knew what she was doing enough to take her car and race it.

The adrenalin, the atmosphere, the chance to finally not be a good girl for a change. But who was she kidding? She had only ever driven to school and around her block, and even then she knew that the car had no business being on the street. It was designed to drive on the other side of the road. Her brother had raced on the NIRA circuit with it, not the streets.

Then she wondered what the hell she was doing going to a strange house with a strange guy. Oh well, she guessed it was just one of those stupid things you were supposed to do when you were young. She just hoped she lived to learn from it.

She and Vince climbed out of his car and headed for the house. She adjusted her pants and shirt nervously as she walked up the walk, one step behind Vince. She stopped him just before they climbed the porch.

"Um, hey buddy." She moaned internally. How stupid did that sound? "What's your name? You're the only person I'm likely to know in there so I'd kinda like to be able to tell people who brought me more then," Nyssa did her best valley accent, "you know that guy, you know, the tall one with like the hair." She cracked her gum convincingly.

"Good point. I'm Vince. If anyone asks who brought you say Vince. Or better yet just don't get too far from me ok?"

"Um, ok. Is this a mean crowd?" Nyssa played with a errant curl as she was often found doing when nervous.

"No, we just don't take well to strangers. But if you're with me no one will say anything to you so don't worry 'bout it, K?"

"Sure thing Vince." Nyssa used his name to try and make sure she remembered it in her nervousness.

"Ok, now what's your name? Being introduced as Manda Williams' cousin will not go over well in there. Does everyone around races know you're her cousin?"

"My name's Nyssa and no one should know because I've never been around street racing."

"Ok, good. But you say that like you have been around other kinds of racing."

"Well I have been. My brother raced on the NIRA circuit."

"Oh ok." Vince filed that information away so he could look into it further later if he found the need. "Let's head in Nyssa." He finished climbing the stairs and pushed the door open.

Nyssa was assaulted by the noise right in the door. The music was a throbbing base line and trance highs. There were no words to it but it made her want to grab Vince and just move. She resisted the impulse and followed Vince into the kitchen.

Vince grabbed a Corona and popped the top. He remembered Nyssa after he took the first wonderful, cold swig.

"You want one?" He asked. Nyssa considered his question. She was only 19 and had never drank liquor before. She was the stereotypical good girl and had not planned on drinking till she turned 21.

She thought about it and figured in for a dime, in for a dollar and took the beer. It was good. Cold, crisp and smooth, it went down like water and she'd been lost in the desert for a week. What was one beer likely to do? It was not like she was doing body shots of tequila or anything crazy. It was just a beer, she reassured herself. One drink would not turn her into an alcoholic like Ed.

They headed out to the living room once they both had their drinks. Vince asked the man whom Nyssa had nicknamed Skyline guy, who was also at the party, and named Leon, where Dom was.

"He never got back from races Dawg. If he doesn't' get back in the next five minutes though someone's gonna have to go lookin for him." Leon took a drink of his beer.

Everyone groaned, no one wanted to leave the house after escaping the cops, and they all seemed scared of what Dom would do to them for not going sooner. Nyssa knew how it felt to be abandoned so she figured they should go looking right away. She didn't know any of the people around her so she kept her opinion to herself.

Vince sat down in a chair by the front window of the house and grabbed his guitar.

"You got any favourites you wanna hear?" Vince asked Nyssa with a slight smile.

"Not really but I'd love to hear you play." Nyssa answered shyly, never having had anyone offer to play a song for her before. She sat down cross-legged on the floor in front of him. She found out that Vince was an awesome guitar player. If the music blaring from the stereo and Vince playing had not been so loud they would have heard the car pull up to the front of the house and let off it's two occupants.


	4. Wanna Go For a Drive?

Chapter 3-Wanna go for a drive?

"Yo, Spilner, want a beer?" Dom called out as he watched Brian Spilner, the guy who's car he'd won, walk away down the street.

"Sure." Brian turned around and headed back toward Dom and the house party going on.

Dom walked into the house. None of the people downstairs had heard Dom outside, only his sister who'd been studying upstairs and who was now frantically changing her clothes, had heard Dom's plan to bring the blond man into the house. Mia, anticipating trouble was frantically trying to get downstairs to save Brian from the beating she was sure was coming his way.

Vince took one look at Dom's face, noted the icy calm look and knew from past experience it was the calm before a terrible storm. He told Nyssa to get over to the side of him, out of the way of Dom's wrath. She moved quickly, wondering if Dom had a temper to match his looks. Dom walked over to Leon who said, "Yo Dom, we was just about to go looking for you Brotha!"

In answer Dom smacked the beer out of Leon's hand and nearly clocked the blonde girl in his lap in the head with it. He then walked over to Vince and asked, "Where were you?"

"Yo Dom there were mass cops man, that shit was orchestrated, they came in from every direction." Vince answered, bad temper to match Dom's showing in his face.

"This your beer?" Dom asked Vince, shooting Nyssa a dirty look. He didn't know who she was or what she was doing in his house, but he wasn't in the mood for strangers.

"Yeah, that's my beer!"

Dom took the beer and walked away. He walked by Jesse who was making out with some girl in the kitchen, under the pretense of dancing with her.

"Yo Einstein, take it upstairs! You can't detail a car with cover on." Dom shouted then muttered, "He can't even get that right."

Just then the blonde guy walked in. Nyssa could feel the anger coming off Vince and wondered why Vince hated the blonde dude so much.

"Yo Dom, why'd you bring the buster here?" Vince shouted.

"Cause the buster kept me out of handcuffs." Dom spun on Vince and pointed at him. "He didn't just run back to the fort. The buster brought me back."

Dom turned to the blonde guy. "You can have any brew you want, long as it's a Corona." Blondie picked a beer. "Enjoy that, it's Vince's"

The blonde guy went off to the bathroom and Vince shouted at Dom.

"He's got no call being up in here, you don't know that fool for shit."

"Vince, there was a time when I didn't know you!"

"That was in the third grade!" Vince rubbed Dom's head and then pushed him away gently.

Dom made some wise crack about what girls were there and Letty took him off upstairs.

Nyssa wondered why Dom was always being mean to Letty. Flirting with skanks, asking about other girls.

Blondie came back down and Nyssa decided she had to find out his real name. Vince and his friends went for him as soon as he came back, making wise cracks at him. Nyssa didn't think she could do anything about it, she imagined that Blondie was about to have his face rearranged.

Just then some other girl came around from the dining room and pushed Vince away. This other girl quickly moved Blondie off into the kitchen, leaving Vince and his friends staring after them. Vince seemed to remember Nyssa at that point. He came back over to her then.

"Say, wanna go for a drive Nyssa? I need to get out of the house for awhile."

"Sure Vince, I could go for a drive."

They climbed into the car and took off. Vince squealed out of the driveway and off down the street, smoking the tires and redlining first.

"So what's with you and Blondie?" Nyssa asked, holding the door handle for dear life, figuring he had to talk about it or it would eat him to death. She felt drawn to Vince. Why did she care why he didn't like the beautiful blonde guy? It could be anything. He slammed the car into third at 6300 rpm. One reason why he might be envious hit her. He liked the Italian girl.

Vince did want to talk about it. Nyssa was an impartial third party after all. "I just don't like him. He's trying to pick up Mia. Brian Earl Spilner. I think he's a serial killer. And I don't even think he wants Mia for real. He just wants to get to Dom and he's using her."

"Oh, he wants Mia for real. Trust me on this one. And she wants him too. But that is a serial killer name."

Vince gave her a dirty look and sped up. She wondered how fast they were going as he slammed the car into 4th. From what she knew of driving they had to be going around 80 mph.

"So you want Mia too?" Nyssa made her guess.

"Since she was 17 and that was about 5 years ago." Vince proved her correct.

"I see. Well Vince, I don't want to make you mad at me but I hate to break it to you, she doesn't like you that way. I think she has it bad for Brian, our serial killer."

"I can see that but I spent 5 years chasing her and he comes around the diner 3 weeks ago and he gets her like that?" Vince huffed and ran a hand through his hair, then shifted into 5th.

"He doesn't have her yet but he will. It is obvious she doesn't feel romantically about you though Vince. Take it from me and move on man. It is not worth wasting your life waiting for her to find feelings for you she just doesn't have. Better to accept that now then have her turn to you in a moment of weakness and then have both of you be miserable and unhappy for a long time while one of you tries to screw up the courage to admit you messed up and end it." Nyssa spoke from experience.

Vince was quiet for a couple minutes then he told her, "I know it is stupid to want a girl that doesn't want me. She was just never with anyone seriously before and I guess I thought she would come around to me. I see now that she just doesn't like me that way. And to tell the truth I have kinda moved beyond her too. But I still don't trust the guy. He seems strange. I think he's a cop."

"Is that a bad thing?" Nyssa wondered what they would say if they knew her brother had been a cop.

"Hell ya, it's a bad thing. We run from cops nearly every race night. No way is a cop at races just to race. I mean that would make him a cop breaking the law." Vince gave Nyssa a look like she should have gotten this without having it explained. "If he is coming around races it's because he's casing a racer. And if he's up in Dom's then it's one of us. Since he's been hanging around the diner too I'd bet my car he's after Dom. And ordering Mia's crappy tuna every day. No one orders the fucking tuna. It's terrible. Mia can cook but not make tuna."

"But what would Brian be undercover to find out? Surely street racing is not that big of a deal? I mean they would send someone undercover to bust street racing?"

"Yes... No..." Vince shook his head. "I don't know. But something about Brian Earl Spilner is fishy." Vince knew damn well what a cop would be after but he wasn't talking about that to a chick he just met.

"Yeah, his love of crappy tuna."

They shared a laugh over that. Vince looked at her. She didn't seem like a cop and he just met her. So he was going to have to trust his instincts about Brian. He looked at the clock. It was getting late. "I should take you home girl, it's late. Where am I takin you?" Vince looked at Nyssa. She looked at him. He held her gaze. She looked away first.

"Well, I guess I could call Manda and tell her I am still alive and go to her place. I don't want to though. I still can believe she left me there."

"Well just let me take you home then."

"My step dad will seriously flip Vince. I didn't want to say anything but that is not even an option. You can take me to my garage."

"Your garage isn't at your house?"

"Nope, my car is in a garage my bother kept it in, where he was going to build us a house to get us away from my step dad. My step dad thinks the car is gone. I told him I sold it for 3 thousand bucks. Then gave him 3 grand that I 'got' for it so he would shut up. I still drive it sometimes. He doesn't know anything about cars, thank god. I should sell it and use the money to leave my stepfather but my brother left me the car and I can't bear the thought of selling it. My brother left me money but I don't get it till I turn 21 and that is still 2 years away."

"That sucks. Well I can take you there then."

"That'd be ok." She gave him directions and he headed that way. Nyssa decided to call Manda and tell her she was still alive and not to call Ed. Nyssa called Manda with her cell.

"Hello?" Manda answered her cell, sounding nervous.

"Hi." Nyssa growled and then shut up.

"Where the hell did you go? I was worried sick!" Manda said, voice shrill.

"Oh fuck you Manda. Like you care where I went. You were right beside me; Leon yells cops and you left me like garbage. Probably because that Evan asshole would have done the same thing to you if you didn't get to the car at the speed of light." Nyssa could not believe that Manda was trying to yell at her over anything after leaving her to fend for herself against cops, knowing what would happen if Ed found out.

"Well you could have gotten a ride to my place or called way before this. We thought maybe the cops got you. Wait a second, how do you know Leon?" Manda was ashamed of what she did and had never been so scared in her life as when she realized Evan was not going to wait for Nyssa. But how did Nyssa know people on team Toretto all of a sudden.

"Well I got a ride to a party and I had a great time. Now I am going to crash here for the night," Nyssa improvised. She was going to use the info Vince had given her to her advantage.

"Where are you? What party? And how do you know Leon?"

"I'm at a place owned by a guy named Toretto. A nice guy named Vince brought me here. Leon lives here too so that's how I met him. They throw great parties. I guess I got lucky when you abandoned me. At least I didn't have to listen to that pseudo racer Evan any longer."

Vince was listening to this with interest. Nyssa was milking her cousin for all she was worth.

"Oh man, you got to go party at Dom's?"

"Yeah, best party ever. Oh, you didn't call Ed did you?"

"No, I'm not crazy. I was gonna call him tomorrow if you didn't show up."

"Good, I gotta go, we're going to dance some more. I'm staying here with Vince and Leon for now. Don't call Ed."

"Kay, bye." Manda hung up and stared at her phone. Well hell. Her cousin went to one race night and was in with the Toretto's already. That was so not fair, Manda mused to herself. She'd been crushing on Dom for months and had never gotten a chance to even party at his house.

Vince and Nyssa pulled up to the garage. It was dark and in the middle of no where. Vince wondered how she was going to get out of there the next day. Who would come get her? She'd already said she could hardly drive and it would be a fair drive for her to get back to the city from her garage. The place was in the back of beyond.

Nyssa hopped out of the car and headed for the door on the side of garage. Vince was not going to let her walk into a dark building in the middle of no where on her own so he hopped out of his car and followed her up to the door. He found her fumbling with her keys beside the door. She looked up at Vince standing there beside her. She realized they were in the middle of no where and to quote Vince himself, 'she didn't know this fool for shit' but she didn't fear him. She sensed she was safe with Vince.

"I just wanna check the place out to make sure it's safe." He told her.

She saw the bulge of the 9mm in the waist of his pants. She wondered what kind of people him and his friends were that they carried semi automatic hand guns. But she still felt safer with him then she did when he was not with her. This was a remote place.

Her brother had always planned on building his house here and she would too once she got his money. She thanked god Ed was not the trustee. The person her brother put as the trustee was completely trustworthy and was making the small inheritance her brother left her turn into lots of money. Her land was a gorgeous place in the daylight. Was right on the beach and everything.


	5. The Offer

Chapter 4 - The Offer.

Nyssa got the door open and they walked in. She flipped the lights on and Vince saw her car. He was expecting a Honda civic or an Acura Integra. Something middle of the road.

Not a Skyline.

Never a fucking Skyline. He thought it was a shame that Leon wasn't big on racing. A Skyline was the best sport compact on the road. They were impossible to get in the states for one thing. If Leon raced his he could kick Dom's ass six ways to Sunday but he just wasn't a racer. Of course he might also be scared of what would happen to his ass if he kicked Dom's. But Nyssa had a skyline. He was floored.

"Oh man what a sweet ride." He said. "You race?" He was in such shock he forgot she'd already admitted she could hardly drive.

"Not at all. I have no idea how. I take the car to school and stuff every once in awhile but it terrifies me. I can hardly drive the thing. Plus I know that it does not belong on the roads. It's right hand drive so driving it is like living in opposite land. My brother was just starting to teach me to drive it when he was killed and I had no one to finish showing me."

"This car could clean up at races. Leon has one but he hardly ever races. He'd rather man the scanner." Vince walked around the car slowly. "And a GT-R. V-Spec too. Shit. I could teach you to drive her if you would let me drive her too."

Vince was in love with her car, Nyssa could tell. It was a purple so deep it looked black till you caught it in the right light. It had the Nismo body kit on it and Nismo decals on the rocker panels. It was a hot car. The reason why the Mazdas and Supras cleaned up at race nights is because no one could get Japanese Skylines. Everyone had tried to buy Leon's, Vince included. He hoped she would take him up on his offer and he would get to drive the car.

"I would love to have you teach me what she can do Vince. Thanks for the offer. Even though I can tell you're almost ready to embarrass yourself in your pants over my car and it is the car you really want to spend time with." She laughed at the look on his face. The look said busted clear as day. She didn't know what it was about Vince that brought the boldness out of her. She would never have thought to say something like she just had to anyone before him.

"No, I'd love to teach you to drive too. Though Dom would be the better person to ask. He's a better racer." Vince felt obligated to tell her that for some reason. It was likely to see if she was just after Dom, not him. If she was after Dom she would jump at the chance to have him alone in her car.

"Naw, he has no patience. I mean look at how he reacted tonight. Not like we knew he was walking home. He could have been running from the cops and got so far away from home that he couldn't get back right away. And doesn't he have a fucking cell like everyone else? Don't care how good he drives; I can't see him being much of a teacher. You have a temper too I can tell but I there's patience there too."

"Well thanks. You're right about Dom. When he was teaching Letty she came home pissed and upset more often then not. If you don't have a good head for taking abuse you don't want Dom to teach you shit all." Nyssa looked at her feet but he didn't notice. Vince looked around the garage. He wondered where she was going to sleep. It was a nice garage but it was just a garage. He had thought there would be a room upstairs or something. But it was just a big space, there was no upstairs. The garage had a hoist and was better equipped then any private garage he'd ever seen. Her brother had obviously loved this car.

When he looked up Nyssa was caressing the fender of the car. "She's so beautiful. If I knew how to drive her right I would drive her more. Maybe even try to get on the NIRA circuit myself." She looked up with such longing in her eyes that it set Vince back a moment. He recovered his usual abrasive personality quickly to cover his moment of sensitivity.

"There's no fun in that. First we teach you to drive. Then we see where the trust level is. Then if we trust each other, you try to get on the team with Dom and I and the others. Then you race with us. And we tint out the windows and no one knows what side of the fucking car you're driving from."

"You mean race on the street?" Nyssa looked scandalized at the thought. He was asking her to learn to break the law. Her brother had given his life upholding it. And so really, look at where the law had gotten them. It had gotten Danny killed and her sent to live with Ed. Maybe a spell of breaking the law was just what she needed.

"Sure, for now. Most of the guys on NIRA got a start street racing, you know? They don't take people with no experience onto the NIRA circuit. They expect you to have raced before." Vince wanted to convince her because he wanted to drive her car. That and he wanted her around for some reason he didn't understand and didn't want to look to deeply at.

"I don't know how my brother got on then cause I know he never street raced." Since her brother had been the model of civic responsibility Nyssa knew he would never have 'endangered innocent lives and broken about 10 laws and statutes at once' by racing in the street. He'd ranted about street racers more then once in his day.

"Maybe he was just that good. You're going to have a hard time getting into any racing being brand new at it and a girl. That goes for street racing and getting Dom to trust you and believe you can race too. Dom is a respected racer around the NIRA circuit but something he did as a kid keeps him off it. Having him on your side and saying you raced for him can't hurt you."

"Well Vince, as you say, first we try, then we trust, then we see. Well, I gotta get up for school in like 4 hours so I guess I should settle down Vince. Thanks for everything. Let me give you my cell number so we can make plans to take the car out."

"Where you gonna sleep in this place?"

"On the floor in that sleeping bag. I've had to do it before when Ed was drinking." She saw the look on Vince's face. "I'll be fine really." She didn't want anyone's pity. She wasn't a charity case. She had her car and she'd have money. It just wasn't going to be in time for her to have a place for the night.

"Oh hell, come on. You can crash at our place. You shouldn't have to sleep on the floor out here in the back of beyond. What if some weirdo comes around?"

"Well that has never happened and the door is locked after all. I'm perfectly safe here."

"Come on. I'm not leaving you out here." He wasn't taking no for an answer. He had a bad feeling about what would happen if he left her here. She kind of reminded him of Mia. She was just as naive and she didn't have any of Letty's tough racer chick attitude. Nyssa relented and came out with him, turning off the lights and locking up the garage.

They drove back to Toretto's house in silence. The place was dark when they rolled up. Vince killed the engine and they go out. He walked around to the back door and she followed him. He let them in and turned left. She followed him down a set of stairs into a small living room. Vince and, well, all the guys but Dom, lived in the basement which had been converted into a mini apartment of sorts. There were three fair sized bedrooms, the smallish sitting room and a bathroom with a shower, sink and toilet. Leon was sitting in the livingroom playing Grand Theft Auto on the PS2.

"Yo Dawg, where'd you go? Dom went looking for you about an hour after he got home and couldn't find you anywhere."

"We went for a ride's all. What'd Dom want?"

"Don't know Dawg." Leon said with a glance at Nyssa. That meant Dom wanted to talk about something that was not common knowledge, not for ears that did not belong to people on the team.

"Hey Nyssa, my room is the first one on the left, why don't you go get ready and use my bed, K? I'll be in shortly if you don't mind sharing? I don't mean in any way other then sleeping."

"Sure Vince that's fine. Thanks for everything man."

"Don't worry 'bout it. Go to bed." As she walked away Vince sat down beside Leon. Jesse had heard Vince talking and came out of his room.

"So what's going down guys?" Vince asked.


	6. All About the Car?

Chapter 5 - All about the Car?

"What's with bringing her back here Dawg?" Leon gave Vince an incredulous look. Vince never took girls home. He wasn't even drunk, and he'd taken off in the middle of a party. Leon was not really sure what to think.

"She's harmless, well other then being Manda Williams' cousin." Vince shrugged. "She had no where else to go. She was gonna sleep in her garage on the floor out in the middle of no where and I wasn't leaving her there. Plus you guys bring girls over all the time." Vince added defensively. He didn't see the big deal over who he brought home with him.

"Not to do nothing but sleep in the same bed. She's not a skank you brought home for the night V. You goin soft on us?" Leon smirked, figuring old Coyote had finally met a girl he really liked.

"No, I'll show you soft." Vince made a threatening hand gesture at his friend. "She's got this sweet car that I'm gonna get to drive while I teach her how. You'll understand when you see her car. Plus, you saw her, not half bad huh?" Vince cocked an eyebrow, a habit he'd picked up from Letty. It was Leon's turn to shrug. The girl hadn't really been his type. He was more into willowy blondes then compact brunettes. Vince continued. "Enough about my personal life already. What'd Dom want?"

"He had to move the big job up two days to Monday. So don't make any plans then."

"Well that's fine with me; I'm pretty open this week." They all laughed at that. Vince did his own thing; no one was really sure what that consisted of. Some times he worked for Dom at the DT garage, but no one knew how he got enough money to live like he did. Besides that, Vince did something with his days when he wasn't at the garage. But coyote played his hand close, he didn't talk about it and the others didn't press.

"I'm going to bed now guys. Later." With that Vince went and knocked on his own door. He shook his head at the absurdity. "You decent Nyssa?"

"Yes." The answer came and he went into the room. Her hair was up on top of her head in a messy riot of curls but she was still wearing all her clothes.

"Why didn't you change for bed?" Vince was slightly hurt, thinking it was because she didn't trust him not to force himself on her in the night. He shook the feeling off. What did he care if she wanted to sleep in her clothes?

"My night stuff is at Manda's so I have nothing to change into. I thought I had it in my bag but I didn't put it in there before we left the house. I thought that's where I'd be sleeping. I'll just sleep in my clothes. No big deal."

"I guess you didn't expect to be crashing in a strange place. I'll find you something." He went to his dresser and rooted around for a minute. He found an old shirt of his. It should cover her from her neck to her mid thigh at least. That had to be better then sleeping in leather pants. "Here, wear this. I'll turn my back while you change."

He turned around and she turned her back to him and striped off. Vince peaked while she was turned around. She had a nice ass he thought. He turned back around before she could catch him looking. She told him she was done and he faced her again. He told her to get in the bed and he did so too. She curled up on her side facing away from him. He lay on his side and looked at her back.

"Vince?" A small voice whispered in the dark. It was clear she was uncomfortable with what she had to say.

"Yeah?" He asked, making an effort not to come off angry or curt. He felt a difficult conversation coming on, something to be avoided at all costs.

"Thanks for doing this for me. It's been a long time since anyone worried."

"No problem girl, go to sleep." He listened as her breathing changed to the deep, even timber of relaxation. He was glad she'd gone to sleep and not kept talking to him. He had a lot on his mind. Was he going soft? Maybe, he answered his own question.

Why was this not a problem? It should be. The old Vince would not have brought a strange girl home out of concern for her. He only would have brought her down here if he thought he was going to get laid out of it. He didn't know if Nyssa would have slept with him or not but he found he didn't care as much as he thought he should. He hadn't wanted to think of her out there trying to sleep on the floor. And he wanted to know why she was scared of her step father too. He finally drifted off after about half an hour of musing about his new found companion.

Vince woke up with the girl in his arms. How did that happen? Last he remembered they had been on opposite sides of the bed. He never ended up wrapped around the skanks he took to bed. Of course he kicked most of them out of his room long before the morning after.

He looked over at his clock. Ah shit, it was 1pm. Nyssa was going to flip. He vaguely remembered her saying something about having school in the morning when they'd been talking last night. He was going to have to wake her. He wondered what school she was in. He had been done by 19. It had been technical school, but he had still been done and he got a trade out of it. He shook her.

"Wake up Nyssa. Hey wake up."

She swatted at his face without waking up and snuggled against him closer. He wanted to let her sleep. She felt somehow right tucked up beside him. But he knew she was going to be upset as it was, besides the thought of her belonging in his bed scared the shit out of him and he had to escape. He shook her shoulder. "Nyssa, it's like 1 o'clock. You need to wake up."

She came to with a start. She looked up at him, violet eyes wide with shock and disorientation.

"Where am I?"

"You don't remember?"

The whole evening came back to her at his slightly disbelieving question. "I remember now. Thanks for letting me crash here. What time did you say it was?"

"It's, well, um, it's 1pm." Vince hated it when girls flipped out, and he figured he was about to see one do so.

She jumped out of bed. "Oh shit, oh shit. I missed school. If they tell Ed I'm dead. Manda was going to drive me this morning. Oh man." Nyssa moaned. "I gotta call Manda and see if she told anyone anything about me."

"Calm down Nyssa, and get dressed. I'll run you where ever. I'll even go in and tell them you being late is all my fault if you want. Why are you still in school anyway? Shouldn't you have graduated by now?" Vince figured he'd get a few answers to his questions while he tried to calm her down.

"Yes I should have, but when my brother died I failed a year. And the last thing I need is a strange guy coming in to tell the principal I'm late because we overslept." She shot Vince a dirty look, telling him with her gaze that he should have realized how bad that would be.

"Ok, I can see that would look bad." Vince laughed at the thought of how that would sound. Especially since she was standing in his bedroom wearing nothing but his old jersey. She joined him in the laughter, having come to the same visualization herself. "Want me to hide my head down under the blanket while you dress?"

"No, I want to put on a strip tease for you." Vince looked hopeful for a second till she set him straight. "What are you, simple? That was sarcasm. Hide yourself!" Nyssa wondered again at her flippant boldness with this man. She was normally shy with new people. Especially new male people.

He hid his head and she pulled out the clean change of clothes she had in her bag and got dressed. Today she was feeling more like herself. Black wife- beater, black leather low riders, chunky black boots, no makeup. She wondered why she was so comfortable with Vince already while she dressed. She normally didn't trust people till she got to know them.

She'd dated a boy when she was 16 who'd taken care of that for her. He had pretended to like her and then when she finally gave into his pressuring and slept with him he dumped her. She had been chubby at the time with a bad attitude as well and Doug and his jock friends had a bet to see if he could get the ice princess into bed. Well he had then her dad had taken care of him. She brought herself back from the past to the present. After all that was why she took care of herself now and while she didn't have a great deal of friends the ones she did have were true friends.

"Kay, I'm ready if you want to emerge now." Nyssa giggled at how foolish they must look.

Vince got up, and just started to get ready; he never had her turn around. She turned on her own, face flaming. She'd never seen a naked man before, just a naked boy. Even though the light hadn't been very strong when she'd been with Doug she had seen enough in both cases to notice the differences.

They headed upstairs once Vince was dressed and found Dom was in the kitchen. Vince hadn't expected Dom to be home. He knew Dom should have been at the garage since it was not even lunch time.

"Wondered when you were getting up Vince. Who's that with you?" Dom expected to hear, no one she was just leaving. That was the standard 'I had a skank over last night' answer for all of them. After all Vince had been crushing on Mia since Dom himself had hooked up with Letty. He knew Vince slept with other girls but that was all it was to him normally. He was a man, with a man's needs. He was not going to wait around for Mia forever. But the girls were always skanks.

"Her name's Nyssa. Nyssa, Dom, Dom, Nyssa." Nyssa shook Dom's hand nervously, remembering the angry man from the evening previous. Vince didn't want to make small talk all day. He thought quickly. "I have to drive her, um, home, and then I'll be back Dom." Telling Dom he had to drive her to high school just sounded really bad. Nyssa looked at him like the same thing occurred to her and she was glad he fibbed.

"Just a second Vince. Where did you meet her? Who is she? I'd like to know more about the pretty lady."

Oh shit, Vince thought, he thinks she's a race skank. He likely thinks she'll jump right from my bed to his if he snaps his fingers. After all he is the catch most of the skanks are after. But Dom had also made a promise to stop acting like he had the right to chase other girls too. Vince gave Dom a sharp look. "She's Nyssa. I met her at the races last night. She's a friend of mine. I think she is going to become an even better friend of mine, and she has to get home or she's gonna be late for work."

"Oh, ok." Dom took the hint from Vince saying she was going to become a better friend. That meant she was not a skank. Well that was good. Vince needed to get over Mia, who was never going to love him in that way. He watched the two head to Vince's car. They sped off. Dom figured there was nothing out of the ordinary about that and went back out to the garage.

Vince drove Nyssa to school and let her off in front. "So when you done for the day? I could come back for you and we could take your car for a spin." What the hell was he thinking making plans with her again already? She was going to think he was desperate. He should have waited a few days then called her.

"Ok Vince that sounds great. I'm done at 3:15 ok?"

"See you then, right back here."

"See you then." She ran into the school and went strait to the principal's office. "Hey Mister Morris, sorry I missed this morning. I had bad cramps."

"Oh, that's...well, that's f...it's just fine." Her principal told her fine and gave her a pass to get into the rest of the day's classes. Mr. Morris could not handle talk about the female body or its functions. Out of Tampax was the magic phrase to get an afternoon off. He'd rather let girls out of class then risk hearing a biological term he had no desire to hear.

Nyssa ran out of his office and sat down in her chem. lab beside Manda. Manda was a year younger so due to Nyssa being held back a year they had all the same classes. Manda gave her the third degree on the break. Nyssa told Manda everything. How she had stayed with Vince but nothing happened. How she met Dom and how Vince was going to teach her to drive the Skyline and maybe even race it. Manda was so envious of her it was obvious to see. Nyssa didn't care because of how her cousin had abandoned her rather then wait with her and accept their fate together.

When Nyssa told Manda Vince was picking her up after school she could swear Manda almost decked her. Oh well, that's what you get for abandoning me last night, Nyssa though.

The final bell rang and she ran out to where Vince was supposed to meet her. And there he was, standing beside his car, leaning on the passenger side door. She hadn't expected him to show, in all honesty. She ran up to him and he actually hugged her. It was hard to tell which one was more surprised. He set her down and asked her how her day had gone.

"Oh, same old. Boring as hell. I can't wait to be done so I don't have to go anymore," she told him. He helped her into the car and then they took off.

Manda watched them go, blue eyes flashing. Her ungrateful cousin never even asked her if she needed a ride. And Manda had to cover for her that morning when her stupid stepfather called looking for her. The fact that Manda had had a car handed to her for her 16th and never had to worry about drives didn't figure into her anger with her cousin.

Nyssa and Vince arrived at Nyssa's garage and parked Vince's car. "So Vince how do you wanna do this? Do you want to leave your car here and take mine or do you want me to follow you where ever?"

"No, lets just take your car together. Let me drive it to the track?" He asked with such a hopeful look on his face she laughed.

"Sure you can drive it there. Do you like me at all or is this interest all for my car?" She asked, semi serious.

"No, I like you too. But I really want to drive this car."

"Aight, let's get a move on. I have to go home for supper."

"Do you have to go home for supper? I was kinda going to take you out to this great little Cuban restaurant I know. After all it's Friday." No he wasn't! That just kind of slipped out. What was with him? Where had that come from? But he found the idea pleasant now that he thought about it.


	7. No Where Else to Run

Chapter 6 – No Where Else to Run

"Well I might be able to convince Ed to let me go out to dinner." Wow, she couldn't believe he asked her out. She couldn't remember the last time she got asked out. Most guys thought she was some sort of ice princess because she'd kept to herself since Doug screwed her over and Danny died. She'd really been too hurt to want anything to do with any more men.

"Good, let's go."

They headed to the track. Vince drove there like they'd discussed, and showed her what the car could really do. She had never seen it move like Vince could make it move. He could really drive. Nyssa figured if she could learn to drive the way he could she might just be able to get on the NIRA circuit.

They got to the track and he got her to get in the drivers seat. They took things slow because she wasn't kidding when she said she could hardly drive. She really had no idea how to shift a standard or even when she needed to. She'd learned to drive in an automatic and had never had a reason to learn a stick shift.

"So, is the NOS all hooked up in this baby or what?" Vince asked, anticipating using NOS in an R34 Skyline.

"The tanks and the hookups are there, but they're both empty. The thought of having NOS in the car scared the hell out of me so I just never got them filled again after Danny emptied them to store the car," Nyssa admitted. Vince made a mental note to have them filled up so he could give the car a real run. They finished up their first lesson and headed for her house.

"Um, Vince?"

"Wha?" Vince glanced over at Nyssa from where he was driving the car. Nyssa hadn't wanted to drive it in the streets because she didn't feel she was comfortable enough with the car after only one lesson.

"I'm gonna need you to pretend this is your car. Ed thinks I'm currently car-less and I'd like to keep it that way."

"I got no problem with people thinkin this is my car," Vince told her honestly.

"Thank god Ed doesn't know anything about cars. Otherwise he would have questioned my selling this car for 3000 dollars."

"Yeah, anyone who knows anything about cars is gonna know this one is worth way more then that." They pulled up to her house. There were boxes stacked in the front yard by the door.

Nyssa let herself into the house and shouted, "Hey Ed, what's up with all the boxes?" She figured she was safe since it was still pretty early in the day. She didn't figure Ed would have had chance to get loaded. She figured he might have a few beer in him, but not enough to make him really irritable. He never replied to her query and she started toward the kitchen which was at the rear of the house.

Her step dad came out of the living room, taking her by surprise and slapped her. "I know you weren't at your cousin's last night so where were you?" He didn't give her time to answer, he just continued on with his diatribe. "I called the school and you didn't show up till after lunch. You little slut, you were with some guy last night weren't you?" He grabbed her and pushed her against the hall wall. Hard. "Since you're giving it out I think I'll just have some too." He moved closer to her, crowding her space and then tried to kiss her.

Vince was worried about Nyssa. She'd been in her house a while for someone who was only supposed to be telling her step father she was going out to dinner and when she expected to be home. They could be talking about her plans, he supposed, but he just got a feeling that what was going on in the house wasn't that friendly or benign. He decided just to make himself feel better he'd go and check on her. He headed up to the door of the house. When no one answered his knock he pushed the door open. He found Nyssa in the hall struggling with a man who he figured must be Ed.

"Get off her asshole, what're you doing?" Vince bellowed as he threw the other man down the hall. He turned back to look at Nyssa, who had a small cut on the corner of her mouth from the slap. Ed picked himself up off the floor and came at Vince, who just stood up to his full 6'2 and stared down at him. Ed backed off, fearful of the dangerous look in the younger man's eyes. With a scornful look at Ed, Vince put his arm around Nyssa's shoulders and walked her out of the house. Nyssa stopped in the yard and opened one of the boxes. She found it was full of her things.

"That bastard. He's kicking me out of the house I guess. This is all my stuff." She gestured at the boxes, so mad she didn't know what to do. She felt herself start to tear up. She had no where to go, and she was still reeling from what Ed would have done to her if Vince had not intervened. She wanted to have a hissy fit on the lawn. That or break down in tears and sob like a baby.

"Well it's not like I'd let you live here now anyway. Not after what he tried to do to you. Let's load your stuff up in the car and then go back to my place." Vince couldn't stand men who beat on women ever since his dad use to hit his mom. It brought out every protective instinct he had.

They packed up the car full of her stuff. Her step father had been quite thorough packing and there were quite a lot of boxes to load in the car. It took them 20 minutes to load it all into the trunk and back seat of her Skyline.

Ed came out of the house as they were finished and about to get in the car to leave.

"I hope that thug is worth not having a home over you little slut!" Ed yelled after Nyssa.

"I'm a slut?" Nyssa looked up incredulously at Ed's accusation. "You're the one who just tried to force your step daughter to kiss you, you creep. Jesus, you married my mother you sick fuck." She said that all loud enough to be sure the neighbors heard. "I guess you did a great job of raising me huh? Now I am a slut who runs with thugs. I guess if my kid was a slut who hung around with thugs I wouldn't scream about the fact from the front porch. What did my mom ever see in you? Did you have money at the time she met you? Because lets face it, you can't be much in bed. I mean a slut like me use to sleeping with guys like him," she made a thumb gesture at Vince, "wouldn't get much from a night in bed with you other then a terminal case of boredom."

Vince was cracking up. He couldn't remember the last thing he had found as funny as Nyssa taking down her loser step dad a few pegs. Man, this chick had a sharp tongue and a quick mind for insults. Her step dad was turning red. Then he started to run for the car, toward them. Nyssa thanked god after years of drinking and doing not much Ed couldn't run fast.

"Oh shit, get in the car Vince. Let's go!"

Vince fired the car up and they took off just before Ed would have had Nyssa by the throat in the front seat. Vince looked over at the girl, "You ok Nyssa?"

"I'll be fine. But my garage isn't going to be much of a house. Not that living with Ed was much of a home to begin with." Nyssa sighed.

"You'll stay with us till you think of something." Vince made the offer without thinking, and then couldn't take it back. He didn't really want to, but he was concerned about how Dom would take his inviting a stranger to live in their house without running it by anyone else on the team.

"I can't impose like that. I can stay in my garage. I'll just make a few slight changes and it'll be fine. That or I'll go live with Manda like I should have in the first place. Makes me wish Manda's mom didn't hate me though."

"You can stay with us for now, and maybe get a job and save up some money to move into your own place. I'm offering. So it's fine. Don't argue." He said when he saw her mouth start to open. So she didn't. "What's the history there? Why are you stuck with Ed? Shouldn't you live with a blood relative?"

"Well, my dad is in jail. My real dad that is. His brother is married to a woman who hates me and my mom ran off because of Ed."

"Why is your dad in jail?" Vince gave Nyssa another sidelong glance. Nyssa looked back. Talking about why her dad was in jail was not something she liked to go into. Her whole family past was a subject she was more comfortable leaving untouched. But Vince had just offered to let her live with him when she had no where else to go and no idea what she was going to do. She figured the least she could do was answer his questions.

"He ran deliveries for some people. He didn't ask what was in what he delivered but I think he knew that for what they were paying him it wasn't your average type of mail. He's quite the driver, my dad. My brother got it from him I guess. But despite that he was caught on his last job out and because he wouldn't co-operate and take their plea bargain he got 7 years for possession of stolen goods. Then when my mom found out that my dad didn't work for FedEx like she said he'd been telling her all along and she flipped out. She took me and Danny to the other side of L.A. and didn't tell Dad where she was taking us. She forbid us from contacting him, and told us to consider him dead." Nyssa glanced over at Vince to see how he was taking her story. She thought he looked a little shocked, but since he didn't say anything she continued. It was like she'd been storing it all inside for so long that once she decided it was ok to let it all out she couldn't stop. She knew instinctively Vince would keep her secrets.

"I think my mom was full of it because she had to know that Dad wasn't making the kind of money he was bringing home working for FedEx. He bought Danny a car on his 16th and he bought me a car for mine too. We had this great house with a pool and beach front with someone to help mom with the cooking and cleaning. I mean, she had to know that the other FedEx driver's wives did not have a housekeeper. But that was the reason she gave us for why she left him, and she was married to Ed a few days after her divorce from my Dad was finalized. It was sick how fast she 'got over' my Dad and moved on to Ed. I just think she couldn't take people knowing her husband was in prison."

"But how was it that you had to stay with Ed when your mom left?" Vince questioned, thinking that she would have been sent to stay with a real relative and not left with someone who was nothing to her.

"Well, my mom took off. Ed, as you saw, is a real jerk. He tends to get drunk then hit things. If mom was the closest thing, she was what he hit. I guess she wanted to get out of all her responsibility because she didn't even tell Danny and I she was going she just left one day and never came back. She never called, she never wrote, she just disappeared. I've still never heard from her. But when Danny finished his..." Nyssa stopped herself just short of saying police academy, "schooling and got a job we moved out. But then when he was killed and I was still underage they couldn't find anyone but Ed to take me in. Manda's mom said she would only if no one else would, but Ed, figuring he'd get something from the state for his 'good deed' jumped at the chance to take me back."

"No one cared he had a history of hitting your mom and you?"

"No one knew. It wasn't something we went around talking about."

"For god's sake why? Why didn't you tell your uncle?"

"I didn't want to worry him. His wife runs the house, he spends most of his time at work. If they could have found my mom they could have had her put me up for adoption and I could have gone and lived in a state orphanage. It's anyone's guess if that would have been better anyway. Besides, I have a dad. He's super and he only did what he did because he wanted Danny and me to have all the advantages he never did. But since he was in jail at the time mom ran off he couldn't help me."

"Why are you still with Ed now that you're over 18?"

"I had to wait till I was done of school and had a job. I couldn't move out without money."

Having listened to Nyssa's whole story Vince was left with a strange feeling. Nyssa didn't have any self pity for what had happened to her, but her tendency to undervalue herself left him with a bad taste in his mouth.

"Why do you take what he did to you so easily? I'd have been mad at him, at my mom for leaving, at my biological dad for getting caught."

"Complaining about it won't bring my brother back, it won't get Dad out of jail earlier, won't make my mom responsible, and it won't make Ed into less of a jerk. I can either try to make the best of it or I can complain about poor me all the time. I heard someone say once, 'you can laugh or you can cry. I'd rather laugh'. That's sort of how I look at this."

"I still think I'd have kicked a few faces in over it," Vince replied and chuckled.

"Don't think I haven't wanted to just because I never have." Nyssa laughed back. She, despite the unpleasant circumstances around it, had finally escaped from Ed. It was both terrifying to have no real home and liberating to never have to answer to Ed again all at once.

They pulled up to Vince's house and got out of the car. Dom came out from the backyard at the sound of the strange car pulling up to his house. He could identify all the cars on his team blindfolded just by the sound of the engine and the exhaust profile. Vince was the only one who wasn't already home and the car Dom heard had definitely not been Vince's car.

"Where did you get that Vince?" Dom didn't want someone who might some day race him to have a Skyline. He knew his RX-7 was damn near impossible to beat but if anything was going to give him a run for his money it would be a good driver in a Skyline. The R34 Skylines came standard with 6 speed trannies, all wheel drive, and close to 400 horsepower at 6000 rpm. They didn't redline till 8000 rpm, and could easily be modded to hit 1000 horsepower and still be a street legal daily driver. They had to come from Japan as they were not sold in the USA. There was no equivalent. The only American car that came close was a Dodge Viper or a C5 Corvette. But as soon as you hit a turn the Skyline had you because of the all wheel drive and the better chassis design. He would have to guess that this Skyline at those moddes and was running at around 1000 horsepower. Dom didn't want it racing around him that was for sure, but then again they said that it wasn't the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the Dog didn't they?

"It's hers." Vince said with a head gesture at Nyssa, answering Dom's question.

"Then why you driving it?"

"Cause she wasn't feeling like driving and who am I to turn down the chance to drive a sweet ride like this?"

"I guess." Dom looked worried there might be more too it then Vince was letting on. "It a racer?"

"Yep, her brother raced NIRA with it anyway."

"Yeah? What's his name?" Dom struggled to remember the girl's name from their introductions that morning. "Nyssa?" He guessed. She answered so he figured he had gotten it right.

"It was Danny. He's dead now, he left me the car. Vince is going to help me..." Nyssa caught a look from Vince and censored herself, "with the car. It needs a little work." She caught a feeling from Vince he didn't want Dom to know he was teaching her to drive. Dom seemed satisfied with the answer.

"Cool, come eat guys, Mia made chicken."

"Well we was going to go out Dom." Vince almost whined at his friend. Nyssa gave him a small smile for his childish tone. Dom looked at Vince, the look asking 'why would you go out when you could stay here with us?'

"This's fine Vince; we can go out tomorrow if you want to eat with your friends," Nyssa said. She thought it would be cool to see them all interact, having briefly met some of Vince's team the last evening.

"Ok, good chance for you to meet everyone." Vince loved weekend barbeques in the backyard. All that great food and cold Corona. He figured after his offer to Nyssa he would have lots of time to take her places.

The three of them headed out back together. Some song about evil ways was playing from inside the house and there were clear lights strung up around the house's kitchen window. Leon, who Nyssa remembered was the guy with the Skyline and a younger man were playing basketball. They rounded the corner further and there was Blondie, or wait, Brian, Nyssa corrected herself. Vince turned to look at her. She could see the anger on his face.

"Maybe we will go out tonight," He told her and started to drag her back down the driveway toward her car.

Dom yelled at them, "Get over here Vince, and introduce your new girlfriend around."


	8. Wash My Car When You Get Done

Chapter 7 - Wash My Car When You Get Done!

"She's not my girlfriend, she's my friend and it looks like you have all the company you need, brotha." Vince turned to leave.

Nyssa stopped him. Damn that had hurt. She didn't know why and she didn't want to let on to how much. She really wasn't his girl but did he have to say it like that. Like she never would be. Like there was something wrong with her that would make her not worthy to be his girlfriend. Of course he was hurting too, she reminded herself. He had tried to put in the work with Mia for 5 years just to be shot down time and time again. He was trying to move on, she could tell. He was having some success and since from all counts she was the first girl he'd ever tried to bother to be serious with in all that time she even had to admit he wasn't doing that bad.

They'd walked down the driveway far enough that they'd rounded the corner of the house and were out of site of the rest of the team, who were still in the backyard.

"Come one Vince, let's stay. Besides isn't it better to keep an eye on him? Isn't it time to move on? You said it was." Nyssa wanted to meet his friends when they weren't all drunk and partying. She wanted to know what it was about Mia that made her so special, why Letty stayed with a man who could be so cruel, why Dom was the way he was, where Leon and Jesse fit into the whole dynamic. If she let Vince take off to lick his wounds in private she'd never know.

"He's a fucking cop. I just know somehow that he is."

"Then stick around and make sure everyone keeps their mouth shut around him. If he 's around for the long haul you can't run away from him forever." Nyssa pointed out wisely. Vince gave her a dirty look. She figured it was over the running away from Brian comment she'd made.

"OK, fine, we'll stay. But he pisses me off once he's walking out here a lot less pretty or he's not walking out at all, cause I'll throw him out. And yeah, it is better to watch and make sure that Mia keeps her mouth shut."

Nyssa tried to sooth his ego. "You're right, he's too pretty. He's not very manly. I like my men looking a little less pretty." She tried to make it funny and playful. "I like 'em a little hairier and taller, more muscle and definitely with more tattoos..." Nyssa trailed off with a sly glance at Vince's face. Vince caught her eye and laughed. He got what she was trying to do and it did make him feel better. He put a possessive arm around her waste and walked her over to the table.

"Well look who it is, old Coyotes are us. What's the matter pumpkin, thought you wasn't hungry." Leon drawled.

"Well we gotta eat."

"Ok, sit down." Dom told them.

They sat down and Vince gave Brian a dirty look across the table. Vince introduced her to Letty, Mia, Leon, and Jesse. Of course she already knew Dom. She thought she was going to like Mia the best. Letty was as tough as she looked, Nyssa could tell. She didn't know how to jive that with the woman who put up with the stuff she did from Dom. But one thing was for certain, Letty fit right in with the guys. Nyssa wished she was so natural around guys. But of course Letty grew up with these guys, Nyssa reminded herself and she remembered that she had been plenty comfortable with her brother. Nyssa still didn't see her and Letty having much in common and didn't imagine that they'd ever become close friends.

Jesse went for the chicken first and had to say grace. He did the best grace she had ever heard all about car parts, he thanked god for direct port Nitrous injection, four core intercoolers, ball bearing turbos and titanium valve springs, Leon encouraging him the whole way. Dom even laughed. It was better then her family's good food good meat good golly let's eat. At least Jesse was really thankful for the things he said grace for.

Dom was still kind of scary to Nyssa but he really loved these people like a family. It was written all over his face, in the way he looked at them. Dom was loyal to his family and she had no doubt that every one of these people was fiercely loyal to him to. She stopped analyzing everything and ate.

They all ate too much and it was dark by the time they got the backyard straightened away. Nyssa tried to help Mia clean up the rest of the kitchen mess but Mia would not hear of it. She said that guests did not clean. Letty didn't help because she considered herself one of the guys. She followed the rest of the guys straight into the living room and plopped down on the floor in front of Dom. Mia did let Brian help her though. They were in the kitchen talking in low tones when Vince went to make popcorn. Nyssa was sitting on a couch alone in the living room when she heard Vince talking in the kitchen.

"Wash my car when you're done!" Nyssa heard Vince call, laughter in his voice. Mia said something back to him that Nyssa didn't catch. Vince had such a deep voice she could hear every word he said. Not deep like Dom's but close.

"Not you Mia, I'm talking to the punk. And wear your favorite dress because when you're done I'm putting you on the street where you belong Cutie." Vince laughed at his own cleverness. Nyssa cringed, imagining Vince was talking to Brian, and in front of Mia at that.

Not good Vince, Nyssa thought. He doesn't know women at all, she told herself. His arrogance is just gonna to backfire in his face. Sure enough, she could hear Mia was talking back, and in much louder tones then she had been using up to that point.

"V, hey V, what's the name of the little Cuban restaurant you wanted to take me to? You know with the little candles and pico and food everywhere?"

"Cha Cha Cha?" Nyssa, and the rest of the people in the living room she imagined, could hear the wonder in his voice, that he was finally being accepted by the woman he'd fought so long and hard to have.

"Yeah, that's it, well you can take me there." Nyssa could only imagine that Mia had said the latter to Brian because Vince stormed out if the kitchen, elbowing the door violently on his way past it.

"Hey, where's the popcorn?" Jesse called as Vince walked over his prone form as Jesse was laying on the floor.

"Make your own damn popcorn!" Vince yelled irately as Leon threw an unpopped kernel from the last bag at Vince's retreating back. Vince came and threw himself down on the couch with Nyssa. He was in quite a temper after his encounter with Mia and Brian in the kitchen.

"You wanna go for another ride pumpkin, you need to get out of the house again?" Nyssa asked him, throwing Leon's endearment back at Vince. It came out sarcastic which was how she meant it. She was kind of pissed and kind of confused. Was he still into Mia or not? He said he was over her, but Nyssa had her doubts.

But Nyssa was not a skank. She wasn't sticking around for Vince's amusement. Either they had a shot together or not. She wasn't going to play around with him as a second place supplement while he hoped Mia 'came to her senses'. She would be his friend if that's what he wanted but that wasn't how he acted with her most of the time. Till Mia was in the picture, then he seemed to forget he was over her. Nyssa didn't know if her staying with Vince was a hot idea after all.

"No, but that guy pisses me off." Vince huffed.

"So you've said." Nyssa gave Vince a searching look. "Is that all it is? You don't trust him? Or would it be the same story no matter who the guy was if you thought Mia was falling for him? Cause quite frankly all he is doing is being nice. He has manners, he's helping her clean up after all of us, and he treats her like a lady. Brian hasn't done a single thing to make anyone dislike him but you. So that would tend to make me think that the only reason why you don't like him is because Mia _does_ like him."

"I don't know why I don't like him exactly, but the fact that I have this gut feeling about Spilner is not helping." He gave her a look that told her he clearly did not like her praising Brian. "He's a fucken cop and he's just gonna break her heart." Vince shook his shaggy head and sighed. "And there's not a thing I can do about it."

"Well Vince, here's the thing. Where do you see this thing with us going? I'm not trying to imply anything at this point, but Vince I will be your friend. I'll even try to be more if that's what you want, but I won't be the girl you get laid with while you hope Mia comes around. I don't roll like that. Comprende?"

"Yeah, I get it. I don't know where I see this going at this point. I think while I get this straightened out lets just say we'll be friends."

"Sound's good Vince. But I think that means I should look for another place to stay." It was Nyssa's turn to sigh as she worried about where that would be.

"Why? I said you could stay with me." Vince looked angry with her decision.

"Well, while you're trying to decide if you're over Mia or not what if I fall for you? I have feelings too you know? Not saying it'll happen but if it does then I'm stuck in the same situation as you."

"Well we have a guest room if you can put up with being in a room beside Letty and Dom. Dom might let you use it."

"I don't want to impose on anyone. Dom doesn't know me and I don't think he really likes me anyway."

"Well then stay with me and then you won't imposing on anyone. And I already told you this team takes a while to warm up to strangers."

"Fine." Nyssa conceded. She was going to hope he picked her. What else could she do? She had a thing for him after all. "Is the fact I am staying here a secret?"

"No, we just won't make a big deal out of it if you stay with me downstairs. We'll just pretend that you stay over a lot."

"Isn't that strange when you told people at dinner I was just your friend? I mean, friends don't share a bed under most circumstances."

"Damn, you're right. I guess we need to make them think I was just shooting my mouth off don't we?" He pulled her into his lap on the couch and kissed her hard. She responded out of shear surprise and then out of sheer pleasure. Vince might be hairy and scruffy but he could kiss. Oh boy could he.

Vince broke the kiss off and Nyssa put her head down on his shoulder. If she was confused before she was really fucked up now. She couldn't read this man at all. It was strange to her. She was very good at reading people under most circumstances. The fact that Vince could throw her so easily did scary things to her equilibrium.

Vince was pretty confused himself. Why did he tell her he just wanted to be friends and then kiss her like he was drowning and she was oxygen itself? If they hadn't been in the family room with the whole team he wouldn't have stopped kissing her either. He might not know where he wanted to take their relationship but he couldn't deny even to himself that he wanted Nyssa in a way he hadn't wanted a woman other then Mia in a long time. He didn't necessarily like the fact.

Vince and Nyssa watched the rest of the movie as they were, her curled up against Vince in his lap, head on his chest. She didn't want to move and he didn't want to move her.

Dom was curious about the relationship. It was just not like Vince to bring a girl around to meet them, to hang out with the team while they were all sober and just having family time. Bring a girl home to fuck after a race yes. To hang out with no. To have Mia see him with HELL no. Not that it was bad. Just strange.

When the movie ended Vince looked down at Nyssa. She was dead to the world asleep. "G'night guys." Vince said to the room in general and carried Nyssa down the stairs to his bed without waking her. He put her on the bed in his room and she slept on. He went out to her car and moved her boxes down, figuring she was going to need shit out of them to get ready for bed. It took him several trips and with all the noise he made Nyssa never once moved or woke up. She slept like the dead through the whole process.


	9. Who is Nyssa Williams?

Chapter 8 - Who is Nyssa Williams?

After Vince and Nyssa had vacated the room Dom looked at the others. Mia had gone to bed right after Brian had gone home and Vince had gone to his own bed.It was just the core team minus Vince who were still up watching TV. "What's up with V and this girl?" He asked his team in general. Without waiting for an answer he went on. "What do we know about her? She's staying over all of a sudden two nights in a row? And Vince has never brought a girl home during the daylight hours before."

"Well, she is Manda Williams' cousin, she doesn't race, and she had a brother named Danny who raced on the NIRA circuit. Danny left her a sweet Skyline when he was killed on his job. She has a step dad who beats her and who kicked her out of his house. That's how she ended up staying with Vince. He's known her for two days. I overheard all that I need to know more info about her before I can confirm any of that on the net." That was what Jesse had overheard and picked up on over the two days. He went back to his computer screen.

"Oh god, she's related to Manda?" Dom was not thrilled by this news. "And wait she's living with us now? Last time I checked this was my house. How did this girl end up living here without me knowing about it? Staying over a few times is one thing but living here? I don't know if I like that."

"Well, when I heard her and Vince talking she said she didn't wanna stay here because it felt like she was imposing and Vince told her it was no imposition if she stayed in his room."

"Jesus, Vince knows we don't need strangers around right now and he tells her she can live here without asking me?" Dom was getting more pissed off the more he thought about it. The fact that he brought Spilner around didn't seem to register with him. Leon reminded him.

"She's just a kid Dom; she's 19 years old for Christ sake, Dawg. Still in high school cause she failed a grade. You brought Brian Earl Spilner the serial killer around. He's more likely to be dangerous then a female kid." Leon added his opinion about Nyssa. Letty punched him in the shoulder.

"The fact that she's female doesn't make her stupid or weak Leon." Everyone looked surprised to see Letty stand up for the strange girl.

"No but Vince thinks Spilner is a cop." Leon stuck up for his friend. "I've never known V to be wrong about something like that. If he thinks Nyssa is fine and Brian is a cop then he's proly right."

"Yeah, but Jesse ran a profile on Brian and nothing like that turned up. And Brian doesn't live here." Dom was confident in Jesse's computer skills. They found lots of dirt on Brian. But nothing that lead to him being a cop. "All we got on Brian is so jeuvie charges for boostin cars and a couple overnighters for drunk and disorderly."

"I know Dom but the girl's not likely to be much more then a wannabe racer who sees Vince as a way into the scene and maybe into the team." This was Jesse's opinion. "'Sides, Vince likes her and she seems nice enough to me."

"Well if that car of hers raced on the NIRA circuit she might just have a shot at it but she doesn't really seem to have it in her." Dom didn't see the girl as a racer. She didn't seem edgy enough, didn't really seem to have the push, the drive to make it as a racer. He could see Vince driving her car and winning though. There was lots of edge to Vince.

Dom decided to just leave it alone for now. After all, the team was right. Nyssa was just a kid, he didn't even know what Vince saw in her. The two of them were 24, kind of old for a 19 year old. But it had always seemed that Vince wanted the domestic type female, like Mia. Cook and clean, and be domestic. Not a racer girl like Letty. You had to pry Letty out of the garage and make her clean up her own self let alone the house.

Elsewhere in the house

Vince shook Nyssa awake after he'd moved all her stuff, both were oblivious to the fact they were the center of a discussion upstairs. Nyssa came to with a sleepy little moan. "Why'd ya wake me for? I was having the best dream." Nyssa smiled. Vince sat down beside her on the bed.

"Yeah, bout what?" Vince asked, intrigued by the soft look in Nyssa's eyes.

"Nothing." She murmured and turned bright red, turning her face away from Vince's blue gaze in embarrassment. She wished she'd kept her mouth shut like a smart girl would have.

"Oh, it was one of 'those' dreams was it? Was I in it?" Vince chortled gleefully at the thought of being involved in one of this girl's erotic dreams.

"Vince, what kind of a question is that?" Nyssa asked, still embarrassed out of her mind and trying to throw him off the trail.

"The kind you should answer, because just maybe I could help you recreate it if I was in it." Vince turned her face to meet his eyes, hoping to see her longing reflected back at him.

"Well maybe you were in it and maybe it belongs to stay a dream till you are sure about what you want." Nyssa turned her head away again, wishing she didn't want him to tell her he was sure whether he was or not, just so she'd have an excuse to let him show her how her dream should have ended.

"Girl you're killing me. I'm sure of what I want right now."

"And till you're sure you'll still be sure of what you want tomorrow it stays a dream." Nyssa got over her embarrassment and made this statement emphatically.

"Fine, you're no fun." Vince huffed. "You should get ready for bed if you want a ride to school tomorrow."

"V, baby?" Nyssa saw a chance to get back at him for embarrassing her over her dream and she was going to take it.

"Yes Nyssa?" He said, thinking from the tone of her voice she was going to tell him she changed her mind.

"Tomorrow is Saturday. I don't know how it worked when you went to school but in this century we don't go to school on Saturday." Nyssa giggled at the look on Vince's face. It was Vince's turn to be embarrassed.

"You got a smart mouth on you. I'm not that old you know." Vince growled.

"I got a mouth that is more then smart and I still wanna go to bed. Tomorrow I'm sleeping in. If you wake me I _will _kill you."

"You sure you don't want to show me how that dream went?" Vince tried his luck one more time. "Tomorrow's Saturday so there's no hurry."

"I'm sure I do want to show you all about it but I don't see that as a smart move." Nyssa sighed, wishing he'd stop pushing her endurance for denying both herself and him something it was clear they both wanted. She wasn't the type of girl who could sleep with a guy just to do it though and she knew she'd be selling them both short if she started changing that now.

"How bout a hint?" Vince sounded almost whiney in his insistence.

"No, let me get ready for bed." Nyssa was starting to sound exasperated.

"Go ahead, nothing stopping you." Vince kicked back on his bed against his pillows, locking his hands behind his head and looking at Nyssa challengingly. She refused to take his bait.

"Go watch TV or something for 3 minutes." She pointed to the door.

"Fine."

Vince went and watched Leon play his video game for a few minutes. Was Leon ever not playing a video game? Vince couldn't think of the last time he'd found his friend watching TV instead of on the PS2.

When watching Leon got too boring to keep doing he went back to his room which was now dark as pitch. He walked in past the door and kicked one of the boxes of Nyssa's stuff as he'd forgotten where he'd left most of it and was not expecting anything to be in his way. He swore softly, hopping on one foot as he held the other. When the pain in his toe subsided he found his dresser and took a clean pair of boxers out. He stripped off and pulled his shorts on. Now that his eyes had adjusted to the dark there was lots of light from the full moon outside, coming in his window. He realized that, in the dim light Nyssa had watched him change. He crawled in bed.

"You like the free show?" He growled in the dark.

"Very much so. Thank you." Nyssa giggled.

"Good." Vince heaved a heartfelt sigh for his poor world, which had been turned almost completely upside down in the space of 48 hours.

"V?" Her voice shocked him, he'd thought she was already asleep and he'd been ok with that, needing time to organize his jumbled thoughts.

"Yes Nyssa?" He asked with an exasperated sigh.

She came up on her elbow after rolling his way and looked down at him. She laid her top half over his chest and kissed him. His hands came up and rubbed her back. As he went to flip her over under him she pulled away and lay on her side facing him, head on her hand as she looked down at him, expression unreadable.

"That was your hint about my dream. Goodnight Vince."

"You can't do this to me Nyssa. I'll never sleep now. How can you kiss me like that and then say goodnight?" He'd just gotten thoughts of her having sexy dreams about him out of his head.

"You wanted a hint." She told him coyly. She'd never gotten to play with a guy before and she was developing a taste for it.

"Can I have another hint?" Vince asked like child who wanted candy. Nyssa kissed him again but she would not let him take it any farther then involved kissing. She was not going to sleep with the guy just because she was there. She told herself over and over that if she made him wait he'd realize he wanted her around eventually.

But he so felt good, half on top of her. His weight was comfortable while he held most of it on his elbows. He tried to push it and almost made her cave in with nibbling kisses down her neck and back up to nuzzle her ear. She'd had all she could take, wanting him like she did, and was going to give in to him and let him take things to the natural end when he stopped his activities with a groan and told her to go to sleep. He rolled off her and pulled her with him to come up against his side, her head on his bare chest.

Vince couldn't tell why he'd stopped. He'd felt her softening under his touch, giving in to what they both wanted. But he also sensed somehow she hadn't really wanted it in her heart, just in her hormones. She wasn't ready and Vince wasn't ready to make her lose her budding trust in him by pushing her farther then she wanted to go with drugging kisses and teasing caresses that only comforted till the harsh light of day. But the heat and weight of the girl beside him breathing softly against his neck lulled him into a deep sleep almost before he'd managed to tell himself not to get use to having her there.

They slept in till 1pm again the next day. Vince woke up first and looked a Nyssa. She said she didn't want to be woken up but he wanted to go to Harry's and get her NOS tanks filled and then take the car for a real run.

Aw hell, he would have to find out how long the thing had been just sitting in a garage. It had to be all tuned up before he could use a NOS shot if it had hardly been driven in years. That, along with the trip to Harry's would take time. He didn't want to waste time in bed with all that fun stuff to accomplish. He decided to risk his life and wake her.

But then he couldn't decide how to wake her. Shake her or kiss her. She looked really good in his bed, felt really good against his side. He had to admit having a steady girlfriend who was not Mia sounded good for the first time ever. No more brushing off the girls who called wanting a repeat performance when his show was a one night engagement. Plus if he got with Mia and ever hurt her Dom would have his head.

What a hypocrite.

He hurt Letty all the time but if a guy ever hurt Mia Dom would give him a new face. Nyssa however, had no one to cry to and besides that he liked her. She was funny, smart and not a bit of skank in her. She and Mia had a lot in common in Vince's opinion.

He decided to go with a kiss and see where it went. Why was he putting so much thought into this? It wasn't like him not to just go with his instincts and do whatever they first told him to do. She'd kissed him back enthusiastically enough the night before he reminded himself. He leaned in and kissed her softly on the mouth. She moaned low in her throat and kissed him back, so he deepened his kiss. She arched into him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He kissed her till he had to breathe or pass out. She blinked up at him with a stunned look on her face.

"Morning sunshine."

"I told you not to wake me." She said in a voice made breathless by the method by which she'd been woken.

"Well I was nice about how I did it." Vince grinned. "It's 1pm girl. I want to go drive."

"You woke me up for that? The keys are in my pants from yesterday. Knock yourself out." Nyssa flopped back in the bed and huffed.

"That's not the attitude of a champ!" Vince teased.

"It's the attitude of a girl, in a bed, who wanted to sleep all day." She rolled over away from him and pulled the covers up over her head. She got up every weekday for school. She liked to wake up on her own terms on the weekends.

Vince took the blankets off her and picked her up. She was yelling at him to put her down and trying to get free but he threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and went in the bathroom.

He turned the cold water on and stepped in the shower with her over his shoulder, pounding on his back and yelling for her freedom. The cold spray hit her right in the butt because of the way he was carrying her.

"Oh Vince you are so dead. Set me down." Nyssa yelled, more indignant then a cat in a rainstorm.

Vince complied, slowly lowering her to her feet, making sure each inch of her rubbed each inch of him on the way down. He knew what it was going to do to him and he was banking on it doing the same to her. Now they were both soaking wet, and cold and their clothes were clinging wetly to both of them. And suddenly killing him was not the first thing on her mind.

Man Vince has a hard body, Nyssa thought to herself. He was a thug likely as not she reminded herself, and muscles were no doubt a plus in his line of work. She couldn't complain when the hard evidence of his tough life was pressed against her and wrapped around her in the form of his huge arms wrapped around her waist.

Vince was thinking the shower situation was better then a wet tee shirt contest. Nyssa followed his gaze and turned red. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared up at Vince.

"Get out! I'll need to take a shower and wash my hair for real now so hit the road and let me do it." Nyssa snarled. Vince knew it was all bark and no bite. He could see the lusting look in her eyes, no matter how pissed she played at being.

"Why don't we just share since we're both already wet? I could use a shower too." Vince asked with a suggestive look.

"Or not, get out and I'll get ready and we can go drive my car."

Vince left her alone with a longing glance for what might have been and she pulled off her wet cloths, throwing them in a sodden pile at the back of the shower. She used what she hoped was Vince's soap and shampoo to take her shower. The products smelled like him at least.

She got out and blow dried her hair straight, and then wrapped a towel around herself and headed to his room to dress.

"You can feel free to take that shower you said you needed now," she told him and he went to do so. Once he was out of the room she got dressed, digging in her boxes to find her clothes. She figured she may as well be comfortable if she was spending the day jumping in and out of a car. She put on a pair of pink velour track pants that rode low on her hips and a white tank that came down to just above her belly button. The top said superstar in little rhinestones. It was nice to just dress like she wanted. Not dress in a way that would keep Ed off her back and change later, when she got where she was going. She was just putting on her Sketchers when Vince came back into the room with nothing but a towel low on his hips, his hair dripping wet still.

"Don't you know you're supposed to dry off in the bathroom so you don't drip all over the house?" Nyssa asked, looking at Vince with little drops of water all over him and his hair hanging boyishly in his face.

"No one ever let me know that before. Thanks for the info. You can help me dry off now." He told her as he grabbed her and pulled her to him.

Nyssa fought because he was all wet but gave in because he smelled good too. She tried to get free when she realized just how wet he was making her white shirt. He just wanted to get her wet and riled up. He liked the way her eyes flashed when she was pissed.

Nyssa got revenge on him by licking a drop of water off his chest. "You smell so good right now. Not to mention how good you look. Sure is a shame you woke me up to take the car out. Just think what we could be doing if we were still in bed." She got loose while he was still in shock and ran out of the room. Vince watched her go with a groan. What had he gotten himself into?

Vince got dressed and found Nyssa out playing PS2 with Leon. She was actually kicking his ass. That never happened. Leon spent so much time playing the thing he could play her like a lover and no one could beat him.

"I'm ready? What about you?" Vince asked Nyssa from the door of the living room.

"Do you own any clothes that aren't old jeans and tank tops? Or are those the same clothes as yesterday?" She asked with a cheeky grin.

"You're real funny girl. Hilarious."

Leon laughed at them, he enjoyed the dynamic the two had already and hoped that Nyssa was going to be as good for Vince as he thought she would be. As the two headed upstairs everyone hooking up with nice girls had Leon wondering if he was ready to give up the skanks and look for a girl of his own to settle down with.

Mia, Dom and Letty were all in the kitchen. Mia looked from Vince to Nyssa and if Nyssa was not mistaken the other girl looked pissed. So she hadn't wanted Vince but no one else should have him either eh? Well that was too bad. Nyssa liked Mia but it was downright mean to play with anyone's feelings like it seemed Mia had been toying with Vince's.

Dom took in Vince's wet hair and Nyssa's wet shirt and put two and two together and came up with 5. Dom smirked. Just friends huh, he mentally asked himself. He didn't think so.

"Mornin guys! You want some breakfast?" Mia asked.

Nyssa looked at Vince for a queue of if they did or not.

"Naw, we got stuff to do." Vince told Mia. "We'll grab something while we's out."

"Where in the hell is your car Vince? I haven't seen it in days. We got race wars comin, don't tell me you wrecked the thing."

"Naw, I left it in Nyssa's garage when we picked up her car. I'll get it later. We wanted to travel together when we came back with her car. It's safe where it is." Vince assured Dom his Maxima would not come to any harm.

Dom had to know all about Nyssa's property so Nyssa filled him in and told him she was going to build a house there someday. She didn't know she was giving Dom all the info he needed to dig into her identity and her past. Dom thought her garage sounded as well set up as DT but on the scale of one car, not 5 like his and he figured that would help him find out about her past too.

"I'd like to see the place someday. It sounds wild." Dom said, looking at Nyssa to gage her reaction.

"No problem. Just let me know when and we'll take a drive out." Nyssa offered cheerfully. She actually liked showing her place off.

"We should go." Vince put an end to the chit chat and started to walk Nyssa out the door.

Nyssa let Vince drive the car and they hit McDonald's for a burger then they hit Harry's.

As they walked in, there was Mr. Serial Killer, Spilner. Vince couldn't believe the guy still worked at Harry's after Dom called and told Harry what he did. Vince bypassed Brian and went right to Harry for his business. Vince was glad that DT was a big enough customer to get that privilege. The two men talked, Harry wondering when Dom was racing again and how things were going.

"So, what do you need today then Vince?" Harry asked after the requisite small talk.

"We need to fill up the NOS tanks on a Skyline." Vince smiled like the cat that ate the canary. He couldn't help but be excited about driving around in a Skyline GT-R, no matter who owned it.

It was about that time that Harry noticed the new girl browsing the rims.

"Who's that girl? Did she come in with you?"

"Yeah, that's my new...Um...Friend Nyssa. It's her car that needs the NOS fill up."

"She's letting you drive her Skyline around and you just met? She either has the hots for you or she doesn't know what she has eh?"

"She's had a rough few weeks man, and she doesn't know how to drive a stick yet. She got the car a while ago but she didn't have anyone to teach her to drive it so I'm teachin her and drivin the car while I do. It's pretty well set up as it is, I just need the tanks filled. It's fresh outta storage."

"What kinda Skyline are we talkin here?" Harry asked out of curiosity. He'd just bet Dom and Leon both were less then thrilled about a new Skyline in town, let alone one belonging to someone on their own team.

"It's a GT-R, V-spec, '99 R-34 and Dom says it sounds like it is running at around 1000 horse."

"Sweet and you say she has no idea what she has?"

"She does now because I was so interested but she can hardly drive it. She wants to learn to race and I'll teach her, but first the car needs a complete tune up. It's been sitting almost totally unused for almost a year."

"Well let's bring the tanks in and have them filled." The two men went and brought the NOS tanks into the store. Harry had one of the other guys fill them, not Brain. Vince didn't think that Spilner seemed to be doing much of anything in the store and it did make him wonder why the blond man was even there.

Nyssa walked over to where the two men were talking. Harry shook her hand and told her what a nice car she had.

"Well, thanks. About I all know about it is it's really fast and I love the color because my brother picked it out for me." She smiled. "I sure hope that Vince can teach me to drive it. I'm pretty sad at it now."

"You see anything you like in the rims?" Harry asked, liking the girl's honest way immediately.

"You have lots of nice things but I think the wheels on the car are pretty nice as it is already."

"What kind are they?" Harry asked and Nyssa looked at Vince in confusion. She had absolutely no idea.

"Enkei's I think." Vince answered Harry's question. "18's and chrome for sure."

The guy came out with their NOS and they headed out. Vince paid for it; he insisted that he was going to be the only one using it for awhile so he should pay for it. They headed back to DT.

"Why are we going to the garage? The car's running fine, I don't think it needs any work." Nyssa wrinkled her brow in confusion.

"We need to make sure of that before we use the NOS. The engine has to be properly set up to handle the strain of NOS." Vince explained all about the various stresses at play in an engine and how NOS added to them, but if the engine was properly tuned it was set up to take the stress in stride. "If the car is out too far then the NOS could cause something inside of it to explode, then we're stuck tearing the block all apart when we could have taken an hour at the start and just tuned it right." Vince finished. "And since this car sat unused so long I'd just feel better if it was checked over before we put it under any real amounts of strain." Nyssa nodded that she understood. Vince was surprised at how well she really did seem to comprehend what he told her.

They got to the garage and Dom, Jesse and Leon were there. Dom asked what was wrong with the car and Jesse had the hood open before Nyssa was out of the car. He loved engines. They opened the hood and looked at her engine. It was nicely equipped the guys could tell. Nyssa had no idea what she was looking at. Vince had known that from the way it drove but it was really nice. Vince answered Dom's question and told him and Jesse it needed a full tune up so they could use the NOS they just picked up.

Jesse and Vince started in on it and Nyssa stood off to the side and watched and listened to the music Dom had playing. Dom started to ask her questions about her family.

"So where's all your family that you got no place to stay?" Nyssa looked up in shock that he knew she had no where else to stay, knew she was staying with Vince. He was supposed to think she was just sleeping with Vince a lot. She knew she should be a lot less ok with people thinking that then she was but she couldn't care.

"Well my brother's dead, my dad's in Lompoc and my aunt can't stand me so I can't stay with my father's brother either." She watched Dom's face cloud over at the mention of Lompoc prison. It was clearly not the right thing to tell him.

"What'd he do to end up in there?" Dom asked, tone low.

"Possession of stolen merchandise. They knew he was delivering the stuff for someone else and when he wouldn't tell them who they threw the book at him. Why?"

"Did two years there myself. I got out 4 years ago. How long ago did your dad go in?"

"4 years ago. He's got 3 more to go before he gets out. Maybe only 1 or 2 if he gets anything for good behavior."

"What's his name?"

"Mark." Nyssa tried to hedge on telling Dom the rest.

"Mark what?" Dom was curious if Nyssa still used his last name or if she'd taken her mother's new name or maiden name.

"Mark Williams, you know like my last name." Nyssa gave Dom a small smile to let him know she'd known why he'd wanted to know. "He's still my dad, doesn't matter what he did."

"I remember him. We only overlapped about a month but he was a nice guy. Kept to himself."

"Only in jail. He was a very active parent let me tell ya. I wish he had kept to himself in my life sometimes." Nyssa laughed and Dom joined her.

"What about your brother? What did he do?"

"Danny was in law enforcement. I guess what my dad did made Danny want to go to the other extreme. And then of course he raced in his spare time."

"What kind of law enforcement was he into?" Dom seemed to care more then Vince had about what kind of law enforcement.

"He was a cop, L.A.P.D." Nyssa hadn't wanted to answer but she instinctively knew you didn't lie to Dom. She knew what would happen if he caught her in a lie would be much worse then what he would do now that he knew her dead brother was a cop.

"You ever think of following in your brother's footsteps?" Dom asked, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Naw, I'm more likely to follow him into racing or follow my dad. I know how much work I have to do on my driving before any of that is possible."

Dom nodded. He filed away the info that her last name was Williams and asked her if Nyssa was short for anything.

"Well, yeah." She tried not to say anything else.

"Well?"

"Well what?" She batted her eyes innocently trying to get out of answering.

"What is it short for?"

"Nyssandre. I got Nyssa from my brother because he thought it was cute I was named after his car."

Dom laughed. "So, how'd you meet Vince?" Dom asked and Nyssa didn't really know what to tell him. She decided to give an abbreviated version of the truth a try.

"I went to races with a friend and then when the cops came I lost her in the scramble and they left because they thought I was gone with someone else. Vince saw me walking away and he stopped to pick me up. Let me tell ya, I didn't know what would be a better idea, get picked up by the cops or get in a car with a guy who looked like Vince looked. Not to mention he told me to 'get in the car baby' and that didn't go over well." She giggled. "I'm glad I changed my mind." She looked at Vince as he worked with Jesse over her car.

Dom liked the look in her eyes when she looked at Vince. She genuinely liked him. He didn't like the fact her bother had been a cop but at least she was honest about it and the guy wasn't around to come after them. If the cops were looking out for her Vince wouldn't have had to rescue her from her step dad.

Dom remembered Mark from the jail. The guy was tough but fair. He took care of himself and his friends. No worries there either. The guy knew when to keep his mouth shut and was not going to nark them out even if Nyssa should ever find stuff out and tell him. Besides that Dom was fairly sure that Vince was not stupid enough to tell the girl anything at this point. He hardly knew her after all. But Vince had a tendency to act first, think later. He was hot headed and hot tempered.

Nyssa walked away from Dom and walked over to Vince and Jesse. She peered into her car's engine and didn't have a sweet clue what any of what she was looking at was.

"How's it goin?" She asked the guys.

"Good. It's in good shape really for all the time it sat unused. A few more tests and checks and it should be all ready to roll." Jesse answered her question. "So, are you gonna learn to work on it yourself or just learn to race?" Jesse wondered. He knew girls both ways so he wouldn't hold either one against her. Jesse had to do all the work on Mia's car because she had no idea what was what but he was only allowed near Letty's when she was really stumped.

"I thought I wanted to learn to work on it too but looking under here now I don't know how I ever would. I wouldn't even know where to start. But I like cars and I use to 'assist' my brother when he worked on this one." Nyssa pulled a face at how out of the water she felt looking at an engine and shook her head. "I'd love to make cars my life."

Dom thought maybe if things worked out she could come work for him and Jesse could teach her how to work on engines. They started the car and Jesse listened to it for a second and then sniffed the exhaust.

"Still running a bit lean. Shut it off for a second." Jesse called and dived back under the hood.

Jesse could tell all that from listening to the car and smelling the exhaust? Nyssa wondered about that. He sure knew cars. He adjusted a couple other things and had Vince start it up again. "There you go, purring like a kitten." Jesse said and closed the bonnet. "You're all ready to go."


	10. Would you still hug me?

Chapter 9 – Would you still hug me?

"Thanks kid." Vince said as he went around the car and jumped in the driver's seat. "Get in Nyssa, its all ready to go. Let's go do this thing." Vince looked like a kid after a very lucrative Christmas morning. Nyssa giggled and went around to the passenger door and got into the car. "Say Dom, you wanna come with?" Vince asked his friend, out of courtesy. He was really, much to his chagrin, looking forward to more time alone with Nyssa and hoping that Dom would decline.

"I got stuff to do here Vince, and that back seat doesn't look very comfy. I'll take a rain check for now, some other time?" Dom looked Vince.

"Sure Brotha, I'm sure Nyssa don't have a problem with that." Vince glanced at Nyssa who answered.

"Of course not, some other time." With that they backed the car out of the garage and headed to the track they'd used the time before when they'd practiced. When they arrived Vince put Nyssa into the driver's seat and helped her strap in.

They worked on shifting and launching till Nyssa thought she would die of the boredom. She kept reminding herself that if she was going to get good she had to practice. But it was darn repetitive to launch the car, get up to third gear and then be made to stop and do it all over again.

"Ok, that was better. Stop and try it again." Vince instructed for what felt like the hundredth time that day. Nyssa sighed. She immediately wished she could take it back because she did understand why they were doing what they were doing. It was just that they'd been at it for an hour and she was almost at her limit for what she could take.

"What's wrong?" Vince wondered what her sigh was over.

"Nothing." Nyssa didn't want to go into it because she was sure she'd have a school teacher worthy lecture about needing to work hard to succeed.

"You didn't sigh over nothin." Vince prompted. "What's the matter?"

"This isn't very fun anymore. It got kinda boring. It was fun at first, but now we've been doin it too long in a row." Nyssa admitted reluctantly, being sure to let Vince know she did know it was important and it hadn't been boring all along.

"Fundamentals come before fun." Vince answered, and then spared a look for her, meeting her gaze. He saw her weariness reflected in her eyes and decided an hour of low speed launches was enough for anyone. "Ok, one more and this time run it up to one hundred."

"You mean it?" Nyssa asked, her demeanor perking up at the chance to run the car faster then 40 and not have to stop it as soon as she'd gotten it going.

"Yeah, then we'll call it quits for the day. We can work more tomorrow."

"Ok, here we go." Nyssa put the car in gear, let it go and got a reasonably good launch out of it. Then she ran it up to 100 miles an hour at a reasonable amount of acceleration. While they were going that speed Vince pointed out what all the gages should look like at higher speeds. He still made her accelerate slower then normal and get all her shifts perfectly precise. After Vince let her stop they traded seats and strapped into the seats in their new positions. Vince picked a start line and stopped the car on it, planning on giving the poor, unused Skyline a run to remind it what it was really built for.

"You ready?" He asked, grinning.

"As I'll ever be," came her answer.

Vince was in neutral. He revved the car up to 4000 then let it drop to idle. It sounded good, ready to run. He slammed it into first and took off. He flew up to 120 then checked the gauges. He hit the NOS. Tires screamed and the force threw them back into the seats deep. The scenery was literally a blur at these speeds. She glanced over and they were now going 140. Vince hit the second shot after checking all the gauges. They hit 150 and then 160 before Vince started to slow down. That was burying the needle for the car. Nyssa had a grip on the door handle but she was smiling and breathless.

"Can we do it again? I wanna do it again!" She was almost jumping up and down in her seat. The adrenaline rush of the fast ride had obliterated her ennui with the whole driving experience. She was eager to repeat the act.

"Not today." Vince chuckled at her enthusiasm. "I think the car has had enough for the day. Let's take it back to your place, get my car and get some dinner?"

"Ok Vince. Sounds good." Nyssa sat back in her seat, slightly disappointed that she was not going to get to experience the rush again that night. Dinner with her newfound friend did run a close second.

They drove the car to her garage and got it settled in. When it was secure and cooled down they climbed into Vince's car and he took her to the restaurant. They were given a good table as Vince was a fairly regular customer. The table came with a good view as from where they were seated Nyssa could see out the window. The atmosphere inside was far more interesting to her however, as she took in the mood lights shaped like little hot peppers and the rest of the texmex SoCal flair.

A waitress took their order and they settled in with drinks to await their food. Nyssa decided to use the time to find out more about Vince and his unique family.

"So, how it is you came to be friends with Dom and the rest of the guys?" Nyssa asked, head on her hand as she stared at Vince across the table.

"Well, that's a long story. We met in the third grade. I lived down the street a ways and when we found out we were in the same class and lived within walking distance that was it, we were best friends from then on." Vince looked slightly embarrassed to admit to having a best friend. "I didn't have much of a dad to speak of at home when he was there and when I was 10 he left for good. Dom's dad use to let me stay over for dinner and stuff. He taught me all the stuff my schooling didn't. They teach you a lot of book learning in school but Van taught me all the stuff I had to know that they didn't bother to tell me there. I wouldn't be half as good with cars or racing if it wasn't for him. Plus my mom and dad fought all the time and it was nice to see a dad that was normal some of the time. Then when I was 12 my mom died and Van somehow managed to get custody of me. Saved me from the state orphanage system."

"Wow, he sounds really nice."

"He was. It got to the point that I called him Dad just like Dom. Dom's like a brother to me."

"If Dom's your brother what ever made you want to get with Mia? Shouldn't you think of her like a sister?"

"I don't know when I started to see her as more but somewhere along the line I did. I know I she shoulda stayed like my little sister but I didn't really see much I could do stop myself from falling for her. It might have had something to do with her dad being killed. I think when I had to try and be strong for her even though I was just as lost without Van my feelings for her changed, you know?"

"I think I understand." Nyssa smiled at Vince to show she really did understand where he was coming from. Then the food arrived. They ate in relative silence, enjoying the food and the company enough that talking wasn't necessary.

When they finished eating they headed back to the house. Vince went to work with Dom at the garage for awhile because they'd had some rush jobs come in that afternoon. Vince taking off left Nyssa to her own devices. She went around 9 and got ready for races that night. Races that she hadn't known about until Dom told her she was more or less expected to go if she was going to be staying in their house. Nyssa was going with the team to hang out since she was far from ready to race. She figured if she wanted to race she might as well start to familiarize herself with the scene. She also figured it had something to do with Dom not wanting to leave her in the house on her own.

She took a shower and left her hair curly. She did her makeup her own way, black eyeliner and mascara and lip gloss. She did not want to be the girl Manda had tried to make her into. She was quite happy being herself and she figured she didn't need to do her makeup like a racer girl Barbie to go to car races and have a good time. After her shower she headed to Vince's room and started to pick out an outfit. Since she had been dressed similar to Letty last time she'd gone to race night she figured that something similar would be good again tonight.

She was standing in the middle of Vince's room in her underwear and a towel rooting for clothes that were still randomly stuffed into boxes when a knock came at the door. Nyssa called out asking the person to identify themselves. Mia called back through the door and Nyssa invited her in.

"So, what are you wearing tonight?" Mia quizzed, hoping that Nyssa was more into cloths then Letty and she'd finally have someone to talk clothes with.

"I'm honestly not sure. I was just wondering what I was going to wear when you came in. That's why I'm seriously considering wearing this towel since I can't make up my mind otherwise." Nyssa giggled and gestured to her white outfit. "I thought about this tank top," Nyssa held up the top in question, "with these pants." Nyssa held up a pair of black leather low rise pants with a chunky belt. It was different from what the skanks wore, and while it was similar to Letty it was different enough not to leave Nyssa looking like a Letty wannabe.

"That's a good choice." Mia agreed with Nyssa's choices. "You'll fit right in with Letty wearing that." Mia looked slightly crestfallen that the new girl in her life was not as into skirts and flowing tops as she was. "So, where's Vince?" Mia asked out of curiosity.

"He took off with Dom, I don't really know where. I figured he'd be back to get ready himself by now."

"Get ready? He only ever wears jeans and muscle shirts! He doesn't have to get too ready for races. He'll get fawned over in his scruffy, raggedy look and he doesn't even have to lift a finger to get it." Mia laughed and Nyssa joined her.

"Yeah, I have noticed that his style doesn't run to too many extremes. He's got solid colour tank tops and mesh tank tops and a few print tank tops. Someday I may just have to try to take him shopping."

"Good luck." Mia said, frustration for all the times she'd tried to get Vince to buy new clothes and failed showing on her face. "The only time he dresses different is when he goes to work. He has jeans and tops that he's already ruined to wear then."

"That's ok. He looks pretty good the way he is." Nyssa giggled at having admitted that out loud.

"You think so huh?" Mia asked, serious.

"Yeah." Nyssa blushed.

"Good. You're nice, and pretty. Let's hope he feels the same way because then he can leave me alone." Mia smiled to take the sting out of her words. "I love Vince but he makes it hard to remember that when he's always chasing me around and beating on guys I would like to date and scaring them away."

"I bet. I don't know he feels about me but I have hope!"

"Me too." Mia giggled. The girls decided to hang out while they waited for everyone else to be ready to head down to the warehouse district for racing. They flopped back on Vince's bed and started playing some music and talking. They found out they had a very similar taste in music over all.

Vince arrived home to get ready. Contrary to what Nyssa thought he was not going to go out tonight without changing his clothes after slaving in hell's kitchen the garage all afternoon on some stupid Civic belonging to a kid with more money then brains. He walked into his room and saw Nyssa and Mia on his bed talking, Nyssa on her back with her hair fanned out all around her and Mia on her stomach, chin in her hands with her hair falling over one of her shoulders. He took a second to take in the sight before him. It was almost too much. He walked all the way into the room and they looked up at him, slightly startled as they hadn't heard him come in. Mia got up and excused herself before Vince would have a chance to make her uncomfortable. It was an old habit and it would take her a while to get over being wary of being alone with him.. Nyssa stretched like a cat, arching her back off the bed, hands over her head. She sat up then and looked at Vince.

"I wondered if you were going tonight. I was beginning to think I'd have to go with Mia and Letty." Nyssa was looking at Vince like he was chocolate and she was a chocoholic that had been denied that treat for months.

"Had to finish up a Civic for some stupid kid. He needed it by tonight and since he's paying well and in cash Dom wanted to oblige him. Now I gotta get ready then we leave."

"Ok. I guess I won't ask you how your day was then dear." Nyssa asked sarcastically, teasing him.

"Not if you value that pretty little ass you won't. You spent the rest of your day relaxing here while I slaved in a hot garage. Pointing out the differences in how our days went wouldn't be the smartest thing you ever did."

"Really? So you don't want to know how I laid out in the backyard for an hour to work on my tan," she asked, crawling to the end of the bed, toward Vince "and then you really don't want to know about how Mia and I went shopping in an air conditioned mall. And you really really don't want to hear about the cool shower I took just before I got dressed. Or how nice it is to be cool, clean and comfortable." She laughed at the look on Vince's face.

"I warned you not to talk about it." Vince walked over to the side of the bed she was on. He had already pulled his shirt off just after Mia left the room since it had been covered in grease and he didn't want to get it everywhere. He leaned down and grabbed her, and pulled her up against him. He proceeded to kiss her very deeply. She kissed him back, running her hands up his back. He broke off the kiss.

"And that was supposed to punish me how?" Nyssa asked breathlessly, not understanding how he thought he was punishing her.

"Cause I am dirty and scruffy and these are the clothes I worked in all day."

"Well you smell like, well, you. Like a big manly man. And you're always scruffy. It's part of your charm." She ruffled his hair more then it already was. She was making this plan backfire pretty well. He slapped her hand away from his hair, her ruffling felt like something that would be done to a child.

"I'll never get women. Any other time you would have been all over me about how bad I smelled. When I try to use it to my advantage I smell good."

"Pretty much. Is that what you're wearing tonight?" She asked as she took in his shirtless state and the jeans low on his narrow hips. She licked her lips unconsciously.

"No, I gotta take a quick shower then I'll get ready.

Vince went and took his shower and came back to his room to get ready. Nyssa had headphones on and was sitting cross legged on the floor in front of the stereo. Vince threw on jeans and the first two tank tops that were clean in his drawer, which happened to be a black and white camo print and a black mesh one and he was ready. He walked over to Nyssa and pulled the headphones off her head. She looked up in shock.

"Whatchya listening to?"

"21 Questions."

Vince pulled the headphone jack out and the song filled the room. Nyssa restarted the song. Vince liked rock and roll and trance when he was partying and that was about it, he wasn't big on hip hop but he listened to the song anyway.

"Who's that doin this song anyway?"

"A rapper named 50 Cent. You like? It's one of my favorite songs." Nyssa looked at him from her still seated position on the floor. Vince took a moment to the listen to the lyrics. There were a lot of parallels between what the other guy was singing about and how Vince felt when he was with girls. "If I didn't smell so good would you still hug me?" Well he guessed he knew the answer to that now with Nyssa at least. He turned off the stereo.

"Let's go, Dom'll be pacing upstairs waiting on us as it is."

Vince was right and Dom was in fact pacing around waiting for them to be ready.

"Could you two not have waited till after races to get it on?" Dom assumed that was what kept them.

"We were waiting on Vince to clean himself up cause you made him work all evening, not on us to finish up what you implied." Nyssa was embarrassed to talk about the topic in question in front of everyone. "Let's go if you're in such a rush." She pointed to the door.

They headed out of the house and climbed into their cars. Dom in his Mazda, Letty in her Nissan and Mia with Letty, Jesse in his Jetta, Leon in his Skyline, and Vince and Nyssa in Vince's Maxima. They headed down to the alley and were the last ones to arrive on the scene, just like Dom planned. They pulled in and were enveloped by the crowd.

Nyssa's cousin saw her climb out of Vince's car. Then saw Vince walk around and put an arm around her when another racer tried to talk to her. Manda still didn't know how Nyssa had ended up on the Team just like that.

If Manda had asked Dom she would know that Nyssa was far from on the Team. She was tolerated now; she had a long way to go before she would be on the team. And Dom had to see how well she learned to drive. She could be a team member even if she never raced but she would have to be useful somehow. Like she would have to work in the store with Mia or go to school and learn mechanics.

Nyssa wondered where Mr Serial Killer was. She didn't see Brian anywhere but she saw Mia looking around for him. Of course she had heard from Vince who heard from Dom that Brian's car had been destroyed by the Trans and he had no ride. He still owed Dom a car from last race night. Nyssa doubted that Brian would come around tonight. Even though Dom seemed to accept him. She didn't think you could completely disregard Vince's unease about Brian's story. She was standing beside Vince, who had had his arm around her since that other guy had tried to talk to her.

"Nyssa, hey earth to Nyssa?" Vince could see that she was in another world. He waved a hand in front of her face and looked down at her, trying to get her attention.

"Huh, what? Sorry. I was thinking about something."

"Obviously. We were talking to you for like 5 minutes and you never once looked up." Vince wondered what she had been thinking about.

"Sorry bout that. I was just thinking about my car. We should bring it next time just to park it and show it off some."

"Good idea. Anyway, Dom wanted to know if you have any thoughts on Spilner." Vince had mentioned to Dom how Nyssa seemed to have an almost uncanny knack for picking up things about people and since Vince was still so sure Brian was not how he appeared Dom wanted to know what she thought of him. Especially since she was a slightly impartial third part. She answered them after making sure Mia was off talking to the girls around Hector's team.

"Just that he is too pretty to be real almost. He seems kind of Valley to me for someone who is supposed to be from Arizona. But he's also hiding something. I don't know what so don't ask but he is. Sometimes I just know stuff and I know that Brian is hiding something. Same as I know Dom doesn't trust me totally yet, Letty isn't sure I'm not after Dom, Mia is totally honest and she doesn't hide anything, and Leon and Jesse ran from something really scary before they ended up here with you all." She always said she was just a bit more in tune with feelings people projected then the average person.

"That's freaky. You got that all figured out how?" Dom wanted to know. Normally when he turned on the charm people didn't know he didn't trust them at all.

"Don't know. It's just something I've always been able to do."

Vince thought that her ability to 'read people' was freaky as well. He wondered if she had picked anything up from him. She'd seemed to purposefully avoid telling the group anything about him when she'd gone through her little list. He decided to ask her. "You figure out anything about me?"

"Nope." The look she gave him said different and he pushed her for more info. He knew she'd thought of something.

"Come on. I can tell you have something." He cajoled.

"Vince, trust me, it's nothing." She knew he was still more into Mia then he was letting on to her but she wasn't sharing that in front of the whole team. Vince huffed but let it go, seeing she wasn't going to cave to him in this either.

Dom called the start of races. He got Hector to hold the money and it ended up that Dom, Hector's cousin Jose, and this other guy named Steve were going to race. Dom raced and won the 6 grand. There were more races and they had to rush off to different streets every time to confuse the cops. They always met back up at the same alley after each one. Nyssa was careful to stay close to Vince, refusing to be separated from her escort at races ever agian. They hung out at the warehouse for awhile when races were all over then headed home.


	11. I thought you were over her?

Chapter 10 - I Though You Were Over Her?

As always there was a big party at Dom's house after races. When they'd arrived home Vince had disappeared from Nyssa's side and she'd lost track of him. She found Letty and Mia quickly enough and the three of them ended up dancing together in the living room. Nyssa was glad that Mia seemed to like her and that Letty was giving her the benefit of the doubt. If she'd been waiting on Vince to entertain her she'd be alone and lonely somewhere in a corner. She looked up from her concentration on her dancing to see Vince fooling around with his guitar while watching them dance. Dom was also watching the girls dance.

Nyssa caught sight of Dom and noticed the way he watched Letty dance. He was so intense. He looked like he was analyzing her right down to the core and he couldn't tear his gaze free of her lithely moving form. Then her gaze slid to the corner where Vince's chair was and her gaze landed on Vince talking to a blonde chick and playing guitar. Nyssa wondered what was up between Vince and the blonde girl, if she was a friend or more.

Oh well, she thought. There wasn't a lot she could do without making a scene, which was not something she was willing to do. So instead she grabbed Mia and they did a crazy dance to the music. Mia laughed at her antics and Letty gave them both a look like she thought they were crazy. Nyssa had already had the one beer she had decided it was ok to have, but she was pissed about Vince ignoring her so she went and got another one.

She carried her beer back to the living room from the kitchen and she and Letty did some dancing, Mia having gone off with Brian while Nyssa was gone. Letty was way more fun to dance with anyway, more wild and crazy. They were doing a booty shake together that would lead people to believe there was more to them then just friends. Nyssa couldn't believe that Letty was opening up to her presence so well. She hadn't expected to get along with the tougher girl and she was surprised to find out she'd been wrong. The girls noticed Dom looked even more intense now and they even had Vince's attention.

Nyssa knew this was not the time to worry about it but she wondered if Vince really cared about her. Or if he saw her as a nice girl who had a car his wet dreams were made of and he was using her being around to get to use that car. Dom couldn't take his eyes off Letty and Nyssa and the girls could tell he was getting hot and bothered by the way the two of them were dancing.

Vince however had gone back to talking to blonde. Nyssa wondered if he would even care if she went after some other guy. Say someone like Leon, she mused as the other man walked by with a beer in his hand. Leon was cute and he wasn't having any luck with the ladies tonight. But he wouldn't get with Nyssa as long as there was a chance Vince was interested in her. She needed to know how Vince really felt about her presence. She thought she should talk to Manda about it before she made any decisions. Manda had way more experience with guys. The little slut, Nyssa thought affectionate.

Leon and Jesse tried to pick up all night. It was funny because it was going no where, for once. Brian showed up and danced with Mia for awhile. A slow song came on and Brian pulled Mia into his arms. Dom got up and grabbed Letty with a possessive growl. Since she had no man to dance with Nyssa headed to the kitchen for another beer.

On her way off the floor Leon grabbed her arm and asked her to dance. She loved the song that had started to play and hadn't wanted to stop dancing so she said sure to Leon. She really wanted to dance with Vince but, well, Leon was there and wanted to dance with her where as Vince hadn't shown any interest. Leon pulled her close and they began to move to the music. He told her a joke to put her at ease and she laughed. She thought Leon was funny.

Leon liked Nyssa. She was cute and funny. But he wasn't quite sure how Vince felt about her and really shouldn't have asked her to dance. Vince was liable to get into it with him over it. Oh well, Leon figured. It wouldn't be the first time that ol' Coyote got pissed at him over a girl.

hr 

Vince tried to lose Blondie for the 4th time and she wasn't having it. She kept trying to talk to him about clothes and various other girl things he really didn't care about. Just like he didn't care about her. He wanted to know what Nyssa was up to. He felt bad about leaving her alone on her second party with them ever. He leaned around the blonde girl and saw Nyssa dancing in Leon's arms. What the fuck, he thought. Leon was moving in on his girl? Well you haven't so much as talked to her since you all got home, he reminded himself. Were that Mia he would have been very attentive all night long.

Vince got up and walked over to where Leon and Nyssa were dancing and cut in on them. Nyssa looked at him cool as you please.

"So how's your night going?" Nyssa asked, trying to mask her anger and not being all that successful.

"It's been boring. I couldn't get rid of Candy no matter how I tried to get her to shove off. She just couldn't accept the fact that I wasn't interested." Vince sighed. Nyssa gave him a look like 'yeah whatever'.

"Why didn't you just get up and leave her then? Just get up for a walk or come over here long ago so she'd take the hint? I mean if you didn't want to talk to her there was nothing keeping you there with her all bloody night!" Nyssa looked away in hurt she masked with anger. She wouldn't let him know how much his indifference to her presence had hurt her feelings. Vince caught the look in her eyes and thought fast.

"I can't dance. I never do, I sit over there and play the guitar." It wasn't really totally true but maybe it would work. He could do this kind of sway in a circle thing ok but he didn't dance to club music. She gave him a look that clearly said his explanation wasn't cutting it. Then song ended and Nyssa stepped back out of Vince's arms as quick as she could without making the scene she'd been avoiding all evening.

"I'm ready to take a break from dancing so I think I'll go get another drink." Nyssa told Vince quite honestly. She was slightly tired from all the dancing and she was thirsty.

"So, you drink often?" Vince asked, seeing that the two beer she'd already had had made her intoxicated already.

"No. You corrupted me. My first drink ever was the beer you gave me at the last party."

"How many beer have you had?" Vince asked, just to be sure he'd counted correctly.

"Two and here comes three." Nyssa turned away and headed to the kitchen. Vince grabbed her arm and stopped her in her tracks. He didn't want her to get any more drunk, especially not in the mood she was in.

"You've had enough. Why don't I get you a glass of water?"

"I don't want water I want another Corona." Nyssa's eyes flashed in her anger and she went to pull her arm back out of Vince's clutches. Vince didn't let her go and instead dragged her over to a couch and sat her down, following her onto the couch and putting an arm around her shoulders to keep her by his side when she tried to get up to get away from him. Vince looked up from her for a moment and saw Brian and Dom talking together on the other side of the room. Then he turned his attention back to keeping Nyssa in her seat.

hr 

"I'm gonna be by your garage in the next few days. I got something for you." Brian told Dom and smiled enigmatically.

"What's that?" Dom asked, curious.

"Naw dude, I'm not telling ya anything. You'll just have to wait and see." Brian refused to give in and tell.

"Ok, but you know I don't really like surprises." Dom answered.

"You'll like this one." Brian moved further into the house, away from Dom looking for Mia.

hr 

Vince looked at Brian from his vantage point on the couch with suspicion. He really didn't buy the story that a kid that worked the counter at Harry's had a car worth 80 large. Especially since the kid lived in Harry's back room. He couldn't even afford his own place. Vince couldn't see sign of Letty or Mia.

Brian headed for the kitchen. Nyssa didn't notice him go. Vince did and he excused himself from her. He told her it was to go to the washroom. He really followed Brian into the kitchen. He saw Brian grab Mia and they kissed. Vince saw red. He thought he was over Mia but he really didn't want Spilner around the place.

He pushed Brian off Mia. Mia screamed at Vince to leave Brian alone. Brian shoved Vince back. The two men broke into a fight.

hr 

Nyssa heard the commotion coming from the kitchen area and went to investigate. She saw Vince fighting with Brian. Obviously over Mia, since the other girl was standing off to the side screaming at Vince to stop fighting with Brian.

Nyssa was mad and upset all at once. She saw Letty looking at the fight with distaste as well. Letty then headed toward the living room. Nyssa followed her intending to dance with her some more. She was so lost in her own thoughts almost ran into the back of Letty who had stopped in the door to the living room.

She followed Letty's gaze to where it rested on Dom. And the infamous blonde chick, who were now dancing together. That bitch was really making the rounds tonight, Nyssa thought. Letty went for the dancing couple, death in her eyes. Nyssa held her back, with difficulty.

"Letty, it's not worth getting in a fight over in front of all these people."

"But they're all over each other." Letty snarled, livid.

"Yes and if you go up in there and fight the bitch then she wins. She made you jealous which tells her all she needs to know."

"Which is?"

"That you're scared that that little blonde skank has the power to take your man away you. You. Letty, his girl, and the girl who races, not just watches but races. Why do you think when I saw Vince fighting Brian over Mia I just walked away? I got no call to be jealous over that. Vince'll have to explain it to me when I call him on it. No way is it Mia who is at fault. Same thing, for you. Well, sort of the same thing. Blondie is after Dom. But if he encourages her that's on him."

"You are so right. And do you know what's going to happen about it?" Letty cocked an eyebrow in question.

"No, tell me." Nyssa laughed, knowing that Letty's plan was going to be good.

"We are going to get into Dom's tequila and get shit faced." Letty gave her an evil grin.

"Sounds good." Nyssa grinned back.

So that was what they did. They picked their way into Dom's liquor cabinet and got out a bottle of the amber liquid.

"Why isn't it clear? I thought tequila was clear."

"Ay Chica. The good stuff is aged in oak barrels and it turns sorta amber. Dom's gonna be ripped when he finds out we drank this. You sure you want in?"

"Oh yeah. Bring it on!" Nyssa didn't want Dom angry with her but she knew that it was going to make Vince angry with her too so that made it ok. Letty opened the bottle and started pouring shots.

They each did 3 shots of the brew. Big ones. They looked at each other then rhymed in unison. "One tequila," each girl slammed back a shot. "Two tequila," each girl picked up the next shot glass in line and slammed back the shot it contained. "Three tequila," down went the final shot as the girls looked at each other and then stood up. They fell into each other and shouted "FLOOR". Then they laughed uncontrollably against each other, holding each other up from landing on said floor. Everyone in the kitchen cheered.

hr 

Dom heard the crowed saying "Fight. Fight. Fight." He had to go check it out. He found Brian and Vince pounding on each other yet again. Dom had to pry Vince and Brian apart. Brian stopped the minute Dom threw him backward but Dom had to keep Vince from grabbing the smaller man all over again. Dom sent Brian home, inviting him over the next day for another barbeque and telling him he would have some sense beaten into Vince by then. Brian left. Dom didn't know what was up with Vince, who was dead sober anyway and Dom had no idea what he was thinking. If Mia wanted Brian what did Vince have to say about it when his girl had stayed over the last three nights in a row? Just as he was about to go in at Vince they both heard the cheering and went into the kitchen to see what was up.

Dom and Vince walked in to see Nyssa and Letty dancing on the kitchen table in their bra's swinging their shirts over their heads with a crowd of guys all around them cheering the two Latin women on. Both girls saw the guys at the same moment and their mouths formed simultaneously the word "shit". They climbed down as Dom and Vince fought their way over to the girl's side. Dom spoke first.

"What the hell has gotten into you two?"

Letty and Nyssa glanced at each other and sing songed, "One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor!" They dissolved into giggles, holding each other for dear life as they quaked with laughter trying not to end up on said floor.

The guys looked at each other then back at the girls and sighed. They both saw the now half empty bottle of tequila. Each one threw his respective girl over his should and headed for the proper room. The party broke up about then with Mia and Jesse shoeing people out of the house.

Dom and Letty fought and then made up the way they always did. It was same old shit different day for Letty and Dom.

Down in Vince's room Vince was going in at Nyssa.

"I thought I told you no more liquor." He roared at Nyssa after shutting the door.

"So what? You're not my dad, or my keeper. I can get drunk if I want to. And man am I drunk. I think. Never been drunk before so I have nothing to compare it to. Plus you hardly looked at me all night, and then you fought Brian over Mia, the girl you are supposedly over. So what if I had something to drink?" Nyssa shrugged and looked away from him.

"I know what I did was stupid but I thought he was forcing her, OK? What does that have to do with you getting drunk and putting on a strip tease in my kitchen?" Vince hadn't toned down the roaring at all. He was turning red with anger.

"Everything." She sighed, annoyed by his lack of understanding.

"I guess I just don't see how?" Vince growled.

"You never looked at me all night, it took Leon asking me to dance to make you notice me, you got in a fight over another girl, you never noticed I left the room because you were busy with Blondie till I was shit faced. The whole time I was dancing with the girls you were talking to some other girl. Do you know Dom couldn't take his eyes off Letty the whole time we were dancing? The whole time, Vince. Not just when we got kind of dirty, the whole time. He was just staring at her with this, fucking intense look, and you were talking to a blonde skank. I guess I have my answer. You're not ready for us, for any relationship. Either you still want Mia or you need to get more over her before you start a relationship with another girl." Nyssa ranted, not pausing for breath till she was done. At which point she just looked up at Vince mutinously.

"You finished?" He continued without waiting for her to answer. "I don't dance. I did get jealous when I saw you with Leon, I was talking to Candy and didn't see you leave but it was cause she wouldn't shove off, Dom and Letty have been together forever, they're bound to look at each other, I'm over Mia, I thought Brian grabbed her and forced her to kiss him and once I started to fight him if felt good and I couldn't stop. And I don't know what I see happening with us." He knew parts of that answer were lame but hoped she was too drunk off her ass to notice. No such luck.

"Yeah well, if anything the fact that Dom and Letty have been together so long should make them less intense not more. And she caught him dancing with the same blonde chick you were talking to all night and she wanted someone to drink with so I obliged her since I was pissed at you for both ignoring me and for telling me I couldn't have another beer. And frankly if you don't like it you can just go fuck yourself."

"God! I'm sorry for not being as attentive as you would have liked me to be ok? I'm not use to having a specific girl at these things alright? Now can we go to bed?" Vince didn't want to talk about it because that meant he had to think about it and he didn't want to. He just wanted to go to sleep and pretend it would all be gone by morning.

"Yes we can." With that she started to strip off right in front of him and she didn't stop until she was in front of him in all her naked glory. Then she crawled into bed as naked as the day she was born. She was asleep in seconds. Or passed out more likely, Vince told himself as he looked down at her blissfully unaware of the turmoil she'd tossed him into. Vince stood beside his bed in shock. He shook it off and stripped to his shorts and turned out the light and went to bed.


	12. I Could Rock Your World

Chapter 11 -

Vince woke up first the next day. He was disorientated at first because of the warm feeling of the girl against his side. The warmer then normal feeling of the naked girl against his side. He didn't remember how that came about. How did Nyssa come to be naked in his bed? Then he remembered that Nyssa had pasted out naked in bed after last nights festivities. She'd been very loaded and Vince felt somewhat guilty for driving her to drink.

She was so peaceful in her sleep. So unlike how she was during every waking moment around him. What had possessed her to get drunk like that? No doubt Letty put her up to it Vince figured. Letty had a fight with Dom and needed someone to get drunk with her. Mia would never, because Mia didn't drink. Ever. She was not yet 21 and while Dom would have looked the other way while she had a few she never did. Who knew if she would when she came of age either? Vince didn't see Mia as the drinking type.

But it seemed that at only 19 Nyssa could already knock them back. She was still up against his side and her hot breath was tickling his neck. She murmured in her sleep and her hand moved from his shoulder down to his waist and she must have had an itchy nose because she rubbed it on his chest.

"You awake?" Vince asked. She was acting sort of awake. He figured they had to talk. He'd rather it was sooner then later.

"I am now that you talked, your chest rumbles when you do that." She stated, still half asleep. She cuddled closer to try and go back to sleep.

"Aw muffin. It's 11 am you know. Not too early. You have a headache?" Vince acted concerned for her head, secretly glad she'd be paying for the show she put on.

"Nope, should I?" Nyssa yawned and her breath made Vince cringe. She scratched her chin, causing the blanket to slip from around her neck to just covering the critical areas.

"After all that tequila, yeah you should have one hell of a headache." Vince looked crestfallen to hear she was doing ok. She was clearly not feeling ill.

"I feel fine. But it's Sunday and I don't think it matters when I get up. So I think I'll try to go back to sleep." She snuggled closer to Vince and then started to come to the realization that she could feel Vince the whole way down her tummy and chest, and legs. Oh my lord, what did she do? "Um, V, where are my clothes?"

"While you were drunk you crawled in here that way. You don't remember?"

"No I sure don't. Um, did anything else I don't remember happen?"

"No, trust me if that happened you'd remember no matter how drunk you were."

"Your confidence is admirable, but if I didn't remember I didn't wear clothes to bed then I wouldn't likely remember anything else either."

"You underestimate my ability to rock your world." Vince grinned cockily.

She laughed, rolling over onto her other side and grabbing herself around the middle she was laughing so hard. She couldn't believe Vince was so arrogant. She rolled over onto her back, careful to keep the blankets up around her armpits and laughed some more. There were tears running down her cheeks and she was gasping for breath. She couldn't believe he thought that he could have sex so well that she'd remember even though she'd blacked out half the evening previous.

"Hey that's not nice. What you don't believe me?" He was hurt she thought he'd be so unmemorable.

"Vince, nothing personal but I don't think I would remember anything if I didn't remember to dress. I couldn't even tell you when I went to bed or how I got here."

"It was just after 2am and you got here over my shoulder. After you put a strip tease on for half the racing community with Letty on our kitchen table."

"See I had no idea. I put on a strip tease? On the kitchen table?" Nyssa blushed a bright red. Vince nodded.

"I got to you before you got anything more then your shirt off. Well get up and get dressed and let's go take the car out for a spin."

"Is that all you ever want to do?" She laughed, put at ease by Vince's forgive and forget attitude.

"No, it comes second to what I really want to do." He leered at her.

"Get out and let me get dressed." Nyssa couldn't forget she was in bed with him naked.

"The fact that I was here watching didn't seem to bother you last night."

"Yea well now it does so go."

Vince left the room and she got up and wrapped the towel left over from Vince's shower yesterday around her and ran to the bathroom. She showered quickly and did her hair in a ponytail so she wouldn't have to dry it. She left the bathroom in her towel and peeked into the bedroom. It was empty. She hauled on pink track pants with a white stripe down the side and black tank top. She slid on her sneakers and headed toward the stairs. Vince and Leon were sitting there in the living room talking but they shut up as she walked up.

"Ok I'm ready to go. I thought you were in a hurry." They looked at her and then looked at each other. "So what were you guys talking about?" Nyssa already knew it had been about her. She could just sense it. The two guys shared another look. Nyssa decided they both looked guilty.

"It was nothin girl, just guy stuff." Leon told her. "Nothin to worry bout."

"Well, it just so happens that we aren't going out of this room till one of you tells me what you were talking about. And let me tell you, if you just leave without telling me what I want to know, you'll both regret it." She looked from one to the other.

"Well um…"

"You see we…" Vince didn't want to tell her. He and Leon had been talking about their dance. And what that dance had meant to Leon. He liked Nyssa he told Vince and since Vince seemed to be, well, up to his old ways, he figured that he and Nyssa had a simple business relationship. He was had seen Vince with the blonde chick and then fighting over Mia he had figured that Nyssa stayed with Vince downstairs just because it was easier then having to get Dom to let her stay upstairs.

She watched them look at each other then at her. "Well, I'm waiting." She could see them try to think up something to tell her. What, did they think they could cook up a story psychically like Miss Cleo? "Vince, Leon, stop trying to come up with a lie. I can smell the smoke. You shouldn't try to force your brains to do thinking that is beyond your limited brain power."

They sarcastically smirked at her. "We were talking about your little bender and what I may have done to cause it in some little way." Vince admitted.

"Well, now, was that so hard? Let's go take the car for a run shall we. Well come on." She gestured to Vince to get up. She believed him, she also believed there was more to it then that but at least he told her something.

They headed upstairs and there was Letty, sitting at the kitchen table with her head in her hands looking miserable.

"What's wrong girl? You look like hell."Nyssa asked her what was wrong. Letty looked at her like she had three heads.

"How the hell are you so happy? You should be half asleep and sick as shit. I mean beer before liquor and all that shit. Not to mention the tequila."

"I just felt like I always feel with Vince woke me up. I feel fine. Why? Are you sick?"

"Not sick, just hung over. Just like you should be. You's a damn bitch not to get hang overs. It's not fair!" Letty moaned.

"I guess I don't get hangovers. I'm glad if they make you look like you do now." Nyssa laughed. "Say, you guys want breakfast? I could cook."

Letty thought that might help her feel better so she said yes. Nyssa might not know how to race her car but she could find her way around the kitchen. She made scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, pancakes, and toast. She piled it all on heaping plates and put it on the table. Just as the three of them were starting to eat Dom came downstairs.

"I thought I smelled breakfast. Where's Mia? She not hungry?" Dom assumed that if food was cooked it was cooked by Mia.

"Haven't seen her yet today." Vince stated. Then made a face when he realized he owed her an apology.

"Then who made breakfast?" Dom gave a suspicious look at Letty. Her cooking was gross.

"Nyssa." Vince stuffed his face full of pancake and moaned. "It's good too." He said through the mouthful of food.

"Vince, do you have any manners at all? Chew, swallow, then speak." Nyssa swatted him then ate one of the pancakes herself. "Yum, he's right though, it is really good."

Dom sat down and took a plate of food equal to what Vince had. Thank god I made lots, Nyssa thought. These guys could sure eat. There was still lots of food which was good because Leon and Jesse came sniffing up from the basement and dug in too. Dom looked at Letty and grinned. He couldn't help himself.

"You'll remember this feeling the next time you think it sounds like a good idea to drink half a bottle of my best tequila and get loaded." Letty swallowed and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Maybe next time you'll keep it in your pants and manage to keep your hands off the skanks and not give me a reason to want to drink your booze." Dom gave her a dirty look. They finished up and by the time the guys were done there was no food left to eat.

Mia walked in the back door just then with bags of groceries.

"Hey Mia!" The group chimed in unison.

"Hey guys. Letty you look like shit. That'll teach you to get so loaded. I went and bought all the food for the barbeque today. I gotta get started on the food." Mia dragged the stuff into the kitchen and started to unpack it all and put it away. She bought food enough for an army.

"Mia has to make the best food ever since her darling Brian will be here." Nyssa sing songed and pulled on Mia's braided hair. Mia laughed and swatted at her. The three girls were getting along so well it was almost scary. Mia looked at the remains of breakfast.

"Hey who cooked all that breakfast? Don't tell me Letty. I'll wonder how any of you are still alive." Mia shuddered at the thought of eating Letty's cooking.

"No, it was Nyssa, and it was good." Dom said, turning in his seat to look at his sister.

"Yeah it was great. I can't remember the last time I had such a huge breakfast though." Leon said as he pushed back from the table. Normally they ate whatever Mia could cook before she ran to open the store then head to school where she was a first year business major. Dom was going to let her manage the shop when she was done, giving her a full time job she enjoyed and him more time to run the garage.

The guys all got up to go and do their Sunday things. They all basically hung out and played video games and drank beer all day. Sometimes Dom would go to the garage and work on his Mazda or a customer car they had fallen behind on but mostly they just hung out at home. Jesse and Leon headed into the living room to play some play station on the big TV. Mia started to clean up the kitchen. Nyssa tried to help her since it was Nyssa that made the mess but Mia wouldn't hear of it.

"You did me a huge favor anyway. Since you fed them a huge brunch they won't expect me to make lunch and I can just focus on making the food for the barbeque. Why don't you take Vince out of the house before he wiggles in that chair so much he wears tracks in the floor? I don't mind cleaning the kitchen." Vince was starting to look fidgety.

Nyssa laughed. Mia leaned in close to her. "Don't forget you promised to speak to him about how he's been treating Brian. He needs to hear it even more after last night. You need to make sure he knows he can't pull that stuff anymore and Dom never did get to talk to him about it. And Dom never will because he knows that coming from him Vince'll turn it into a huge fight." Nyssa was not looking forward to that talk, but she knew she had to say something. It was downright embarrassing when your date bet up someone else's date over another girl...

She walked over to Vince. "You ready to head out?" He jumped up so fast he nearly knocked Nyssa down. He grabbed her and pulled her to his chest so she wouldn't end up flat on her ass on the floor.

"Sorry, I'm just so ready to be out of the house for awhile you know?"

"Sure," Nyssa said, but it came out muffled in Vince's shirt. She reached up and put her arms around his neck. "If you promise to be more careful with me in the car then you are of me in the dining room!" She giggled, looking up at him.

"Deal, let's go." They headed out to the car. Vince was confused by his feelings for Nyssa. He was not sure if he was over Mia or not but he was sure into Nyssa. Though she was not scared of him and that bothered him a bit. He guessed Mia wasn't either but most people who got to know him were. He was big, scruffy, and most of the time armed. Nyssa didn't seem intimidated at all. Could he be into both girls at once? He didn't know but he did know that he didn't like to have confusion in his life at all. Nyssa unlocked the Skyline then gave him the keys and told him to drive there, she wasn't feeling like it.

Vince couldn't imagine not being in the mood to drive this great car. He wondered if she really had the drive to be a racer. If he had a car like this and someone who knew what they were doing to teach him you couldn't have pried the keys out of his fingers unless he was cold and dead. She belted herself in and looked over at Vince.


	13. Black and White, Now With Shades of Grey

Chapter 12 - Black and White, now with shades of gray.

"What's on your mind V?" She asked him. He looked pensive and it was a strange look for Vince. Nyssa didn't figure he did too much deep thinking. She knew he wasn't dumb, like Manda had told her he was, but he wasn't as complex as some other guys she had known. He relied on instincts and gut feelings more then deep involved thought. That didn't make him dumb to her, it made him refreshingly different. But most things in Vince's world were either on or off, Nyssa reasoned. Most things in Vince's world either fit or they didn't. She figured she was about the only grey area in his life; most of the rest must be pretty black and white.

For instance, if someone messed with a member of the team he would fight that person. There would never be a time when he didn't really want to, or wouldn't fight because he thought the other guy could beat him. It was just a thing with Vince. If they hurt or insulted a member of Vince's family they would get pounded on. With most people it would be a conscious decision. Like does he deserve the beating? Yes. Can I beat him? I have a chance. Do I want to fight? Yes or no. Can I walk away from this? Yes or no. Then based on what they thought of during that process they would either fight or not. Not Vince. He'd just do it because that's just how he was.

Vince was thinking about her. He was wondering about whether she was going to make it on the team or not. She was cool, and funny, and really smart, but she didn't have much drive for learning to race. She was watching him drive from her seat. It was kind of unnerving to be watched that closely, with that kind of intensity. He answered her question. "You are."

"Well, that can't be good. Why do you look so, well, lost over thinking about me?"

"Because I want you to get on the team and I don't think you ever will if you keep up this attitude toward learning to drive your car."

"What attitude?" She knew she had lots of attitude, just not over driving the car.

"Never wanting to practice, letting me drive everywhere. If this was my car I wouldn't want to let anyone else drive it, ever. I'd want to be the one driving; I'd be driving it all the time. You seem happy to let other people drive it _for_ you all the time."

"Vince?"

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to drive the car. I just knew you did too. I figure I can drive it at the track all I want and I wanted to let you drive it on the way there because you looked like you wanted to. Plus, I'm still not great with it and I don't want anything to happen to us on the public roads. We can practice every day after school if you want. I want to race and I want to make it on the team. But let's face it V, even if I become the best driver on earth there's no guarantee that Dom will ever accept me."

"You only didn't want to drive to the track because you knew I wanted to?" She nodded. Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"And I know Dom makes the final decision but if you're a good driver and you've proven your loyalty to the team then he won't say no. If he didn't like you at least some already you wouldn't be staying with us anymore. But you will need to practice more. That goes double if you want to be ready for Race Wars in 4 months time. You need to get good at the track then race in a few small buy in races on race nights to see how you do."

She nodded. They were pretty silent till they arrived at the track. She strapped herself in on the driver's side and started the car. She was doing better with the car this time. She got all the shifts right and also accelerated at a good rate. She was faster today, and more confident. She got up to 120mph too. Again Vince made her stop the car and take off from a dead stop up to 120 then stop and do it again. She did it about 10 times and the amount of time it took her to go from 0 to 120 was getting smaller. She had her shifting down better. She was better able to judge when to shift and how to let the clutch off.

Vince took over the controls again and did a run with NOS, full race style. She enjoyed the ride but she paid careful attention too. She wanted to learn all she could. She was getting into racing late to begin with and maybe she hadn't been taking it as seriously as she should have been. Given that she had no experience around cars other then the small amount she'd gotten with her brother she was at a distinct advantage. So after Vince got to do his run instead of letting him drive home she said she wanted to.

"You? You want to drive home?"

"Yeah. I have to drive it on the streets sometime right? Might as well start to get use to it. After all, it's on the streets that I'll be racing too. How'm I supposed to do that if I can't drive on the street to begin with?"

"You have a point. Crawl over here." Vince got out and let her slide into the driver's seat. When he got back into the car he was visibly pleased with her initiative.

"You know, we should go get your car and take both of the cars to Dom's. This constant switching of cars should stop." Nyssa mused as she guided the car out of the track parking lot and onto the road that led to the freeway.

"Good idea. Dom'll stop worrying that I'm lying about my car being fine where it is or hiding the fact that it's wrecked."

Nyssa turned the car toward her garage. She was nervous about driving the car in the street still and to tell the truth she was scared out of her mind when she hit the freeway. Vince could tell she was trying to be brave about things but she was not having a very fun time. Every time a car whizzed by her she flinched but she never complained and tried not to let on how scared she was. Vince figured maybe he was pushing her too hard. When she was more comfortable driving it on the track she might do better on the street. Well hell, he guessed he would have to take her to a quiet neighbourhood and let her get use to driving it on the street there, not on a busy freeway.

"Take this off ramp ok?"

"Sure, why?" Nyssa asked as she signaled and exited the freeway.

"Because you're doin great but you're not really ready to be on the freeway in this car. I'll finish the trip to your garage." Vince told her as he got back onto the main road. "I was thinking, we'll take you to a quiet neighbourhood, like around home even, and let you get use to driving on the road there ok? I think you should drive my car home too. I'll drive yours back to Dom's."

"That sounds perfect Vince." She was visibly relieved.

"You did good though. I could tell you were scared on the freeway." He tugged on her ponytail then fired the car back up and got back on the freeway.

They arrived at her garage and he gave her the keys to his car. After letting herself into the garage she started Vince's car and pulled it out of the garage. He waved at her and took off in the skyline and she followed him in his car. She enjoyed driving the Maxima. She found the gearshift instinctively easier to use and the car was very fast and responsive. Not fast like hers but way faster then the mustang her dad had bought her when she turned 16. Her mom had made her leave it behind in the house when they left because she said it was bought with her dad's 'dirty money'. Nyssa knew her dad had broken the law but he had provided for them as well. She found she didn't really care how he had made his money. She had missed him while they lived with Ed.

Her dad still owned the big house she had grown up in and she guessed the car was still there in the garage. Or at least she assumed her dad still owned the house since no one new had ever moved in. Now that her mom was gone she could likely have gone back and lived in her dad's house while she waited for him to get out of jail but it would have seemed sad and lonely without her dad and her brother. Plus she would have had to go to the jail to ask her dad about it.

She had only gone to see her dad once while he was in jail and that had been to tell him about her brother's death. He hadn't wanted her to see him that way, locked up in jail wearing an orange jumpsuit. Looking battered but not beaten. But she was the one who had to tell him about her brother. Her mom hadn't been around to do it and Danny had been killed. Her dad had to know. Her mom likely still didn't know because while Nyssa had tried to find her to tell her too, figuring even if she had run off she deserved to know, she hadn't been able to find her. Nyssa had been a child herself and shouldn't have had to be the one to break that news to her dad.

She couldn't hug him to comfort him while he cried over the loss of his son and it had about broken her heart. Most of the time she was able to deal with it all in a matter of fact way. There was nothing she could do about any of it and she knew it. But on that day it had gotten to her. They wouldn't even let him out long enough to come to the funeral. Her brother had been her protector and mentor ever since she was a little kid and she'd had to burry him. Her dad, her idol, her champion had been locked up in jail instead of at her side. It had been a hard thing for her to deal with, the whole situation, but deal she had.

Vince was a lot like Danny in many ways. Her brother had been gruff and quiet. He had loved to work on his car. Vince was a criminal and her brother had been a cop and of course that was different but they still had a lot in common. Her brother had lived in a pretty black and white world too.

Vince was driving pretty fast and in his car she was comfortable keeping up with him. She always had this sense of nervousness when she broke the speed limit like they were though. She was always on the lookout for cops. What if she got pulled over? She hardly had any money and couldn't afford to pay fines. She supposed she should tell her dad her situation and then see if he could start giving her an allowance again. She laughed at the thought but the idea had merit. She could still live with the Toretto's if she didn't tell them but then she'd have money for new clothes and to do any activities she wanted to participate in.

She had to talk to Vince about his behaviour around Brian before they hit the backyard. She'd promised Mia she'd do her best to make sure there was no repeat of the episode at the party the night before.

Both cars squealed to a stop in front of the house. Nyssa was just about to climb out of the car when Vince opened the door. She thought it was a wonderful coincidence as she could grab him now before they got out back. If she didn't talk to him first and Brian was already out back the situation was lible to get real thick real quick. Vince held out his hand to her to help her out of the car. She took it and stood up, hitching up her pants.

Vince grabbed her waist. It was one of those things he couldn't even have told himself why he did. He just went on instinct and wondered about it afterward.

"You did good today." Vince told Nyssa gruffly, not good at giving praise to anyone. Just look at how he did with Mia. Always with the 'you look good' shit.

"Well, thanks. Your car's fun to drive." She grabbed him around the neck so he couldn't take off on her when she continued into less benign topics.

"So's yours when you get use to it." She wrinkled her nose, wondering if that day would ever arrive for her. But the time had come to break the news to Vince about Brian and acceptable behavior. She was almost mad at Mia for putting her into this bind. She had a funny feeling Vince was going to be upset about her talking to him like he was in playschool and didn't like one of the other toddlers. It really wasn't Nyssa's place to teach him to share but she couldn't have Vince and Brian fighting again. It was going to end up tragic if it kept happening.

"Vince?"

"What?"

"We need to talk a second before we go up in the house."

Vince picked her up and carried her around to the back of his car and set her on the trunk, then stood between her legs. "What do we need to talk about little girl?" Much as Vince tried to convince himself it was some silly topic only a girl would care about he could tell by the set of her face it was more important then that and even more importantly he wasn't going to like it.

"You and your behavior because you might as well know that Brian is going to be here. Mia invited him. Did Dom get a chance to speak to you about that?" If Dom had found time to read the riot act then Nyssa wouldn't go into it again. She knew that it was possible to beat a topic to death, even with someone as stubborn as Vince.

"No. And we don't have to either." Vince bit out, looking at the ground. "I know how to behave." Nyssa grabbed his hair and tilted his head back to look him in the eye. She was pushing her luck, she knew but she really wanted to have a nice relaxing time, not watch things go from bad to worse.

"Yes we do need to talk about it. We can not have a repeat of last night V. Brian is an invited guest of Dom's and for now he is just plain a nice guy. He treats Mia well and she likes him. He hasn't forced her into anything and he treats her like a lady. If you feel this strongly that he's not what he seems then watch him. But you can't fight him or be obviously rude to him either V. You get me?"

"Yes. I get you. But he is hidin somethin. I don't want him to hurt Mia." Vince snorted and looked away, not wanting to continue the conversation any further. He wanted to beat Brian Earl Spilner into the ground and he didn't want anyone telling him reasons why he couldn't. "Can we go eat now? Please." He met Nyssa's earnest gaze again with his own more then mildly annoyed one.

"Yes, if you promise me that there will not be a fist fight for this one day at least. Please." He nodded reluctantly. "Does that mean you promise me?" He nodded with an exasperated look on his face.

"Do you need it in blood?" Vince growled.

"I guess your word is good enough. Are you going to help me down off the car?"

Vince turned around and told her to get on his back. He piggy backed her into the backyard. Everyone but Mia was sitting around the pick nick table. Vince set her down beside Letty and went over to talk to the boys. He gave Brian a dirty look but he held his temper otherwise.

"That looked cozy. Everthing ok between you too now?" Letty asked Nyssa as she kicked back against the table, on the seat backwards.

"Well, it's good. But it didn't help that I just had to nag him for the first time." Nyssa giggled despite herself. "You know the 'thou shall not mess up the pretty face of the blond pretty-boy' speech I just had to deliver for Mia in the driveway." Letty laughed.

"That does suck because Dom didn't forget so Vince is libel to hear it again. But really, how's he treaten you?"

"Good. I guess." Nyssa blew her hair off her face. "I don't know. I'm confused about how he feels about me. He's never made it clear. I think it's because he's still confused about how he feels about me too. I just tell myself it'll all work out one way or the other sometime so I may as well just enjoy the ride for now. How's it workin out between you'n Dom?"

"Same shit different day. He's sorry that he was dancing with the hoe, he says he didn't know I'd take it so hard. I'm getting sick of him flirting with skanks just to show me he could have them if he wanted them. It feels like he's rubbin my nose in the fact he could have them all if he wanted them so I better watch myself." Nyssa nodded her understanding.

"Letty, Nyssa, could you come here a second?" They heard Mia call from the door of the kitchen. They went into the house via the back door. "The food's ready. Could you help me carry it out to the table?"

"Sure." Letty and Nyssa picked up all they could carry and Mia grabbed the rest. Mia set up the table then called them all over to eat. Dom sat at the head of the table, Leon at the foot. Letty sat at Dom's right, then Nyssa then Vince, and Mia sat on Dom's left, then Brian, and finally Jesse. They ate after Mia said grace. Nyssa grabbed a Corona out of the open grouping of them in the center of the table and took a big gulp. Vince scowled at her in disapproval and Brian looked downright horrified. Dom just laughed. He liked Nyssa. He liked her attitude. She was underage but Vince was the one who offered her her first beer so it was sort of like it was their fault she liked it.

"Well, I wouldn't even know I liked Corona if you hadn't given me my first one. Doesn't that make you my pusher or somethin?" Nyssa pointed out to Vince. He gave her a dirty look but didn't say anything.

They finished eating; Vince and Brian tried to out stare each other over the whole meal. They talked about what to do after they cleaned up and they decided to go to the local drive in theatre after they ate. Nyssa had never been to a drive in so she was interested in getting to see one.

Letty and Dom took his car, Brian and Mia took Mia's car, Jesse and Leon took Jesse's car and Nyssa and Vince took Vince's car. They made quite a sight parked in a row near the front. All the cars with matching style graphics and gleaming paint. They saw two movies and by the time they got home it was really late. Since it was Sunday Nyssa had to get up for school in the morning and she wasn't looking forward to it.

Vince had to get up for his big job but of course Nyssa didn't know about that. He knew he didn't know her well enough to let her in on that sort of secret. The team was involved in something other then racing, something much more illegal and that was why Vince was so concerned about Brian just showing up. The timing was almost too convenient. He was so concerned about Nyssa's drinking and about getting in good with Dom. It just came at the wrong time for Vince to look the other way on it.

They were getting read for bed when Vince figured out a way to get Nyssa to look the other way about why he wanted to sleep in when she got up when he'd normally get up with her and take her to class.

"Take my car to school tomorrow morning why don't you? I'll have yours here if I need it and then if you want to go anywhere you have a ride."

"You sure about that?

"Yeah, unless you don't want to, then I'll drive you before I go to work." Vince managed to internalize his groan. He didn't want to get up in the morning but he would if he had to, to keep her off the trail.

"I'd love to have a car with me for a change but what if something happens to the Maxima? I'd never live it down." She smiled softly because she knew how much love he had for his car. She didn't really understand it but she knew it was there.

"It'll be fine. Just be careful and remember to turn on the security when you park it. And don't let anyone eat in it. Not even you." Vince shook a finger at Nyssa. It was fine when he was around to make sure nothing was spilled but he didn't want anyone eating in his baby when he wasn't around.

"Ok, well then you can drive the Skyline if you need to."

"Ok then, goodnight." He kissed her good night and they went to sleep.

She woke up the next morning in Vince's arms. It never ceased to amaze her how they could go to sleep on their own sides of the bed and wake up together in the center. She found it hard to believe she had known him all of 5 days too. She untangled herself from Vince and got up. She got ready quickly and stopped to look at Vince asleep in bed. She could never believe how good looking she found him. Most girls went for Dom even though he had a girl. She just didn't see how anyone found Dom better looking then Vince. She guessed she was just into scruffy guys more then bald, muscle bound ones. She kissed Vince softly and let herself out of the house.


	14. You're Not As Smooth As You Think

Chapter 13 - You're not as smooth as you think.

Nyssa thanked god she only had a month left of school as she stopped at Manda's. She figured she'd drive her cousin to school for a change since Manda had always been driving her when she'd lived with Ed. Manda came out of her house just as Nyssa pulled up and rolled down the window.

"Wanna roll with me today Manda?" Nyssa called toward her shocked cousin with a grin.

"Sure, why're you driving Vince's car?" Manda slid into the vehicle and looked around.

"He said I should take his car till I'm comfortable driving mine on the street."

"That was nice of him. So are you and him an item or what?"

"We're 'or what' I guess. I don't even really know." Nyssa put the car in gear and pulled off from the curb.

"What do you mean you don't even know?" Manda looked scandalized. "Don't you live at his house?"

"Well, yeah. But he's still hung up on Mia and we've decided that till he can look at me and say honestly he wants me not Mia with no doubt in his mind we're just friends."

"Well, that's ok anyway cause I don't thing you should date Vince. He is scruffy and not very smart. You can do better then some stupid grease monkey. You should go after Leon. He's a better catch."

"Hey, Vince isn't stupid. He's very much like Danny in a lot of ways. I know you didn't think Danny was stupid. Leon's a bigger grease monkey than Vince and I think I'm going to learn to be a mechanic too. Dom wants me to. He says I can work for him if I do. But Vince is scruffy. He is not dirty though. I like the way he always looks like he just woke up all the time."

"Well, whatever. This is a sweet car that's for sure. Have you raced yet?"

"No, I'm far from ready to race. Vince and I practice on the track every day or so. He said he could get Dom to teach me but Dom's not very nice."

"Are you crazy? Dom's the best and he is so perfect looking." Manda was getting all hot and bothered thinking about Dom. She drifted off into her own world where Dom was her's to capture.

"Manda, he's mean when he gets impatient. He made _Letty_ cry a few times when he was teaching her to race. Vince has been nothing but patient with me. Plus why are you thinking about Dom that way? They all know you have a crush on him and he's never going to leave Letty." Nyssa took her eyes off the road for a moment to meet her cousin's blue gaze firmly then turned back to the road.

"What do you mean they all know I have a thing for Dom?"

"Just what I said. You must have told the wrong person or they saw the way you look at him cause even Dom knows. And Letty would beat your face off if you ever went for him. I mean he might sleep with you but as far as girlfriends go he's never leaving Letty anyway and you deserve better. If you think Leon is cute you could go after him but I would advise you to forget Dominic."

"Shit. I didn't think I was that obvious. I guess you're right though. I don't want to mess with Letty."

They pulled up to school and parked the car. The climbed out and there were people all over them right away. Asking where Nyssa got the car and whose it was. Looking at it and ohing and ahing over it. Nyssa told everyone it was her boyfriend's, so what if he wasn't? Yet. If she had her way he would be. Then she got into her tail and told the group that he was huge and dangerous. She asked if they had heard of Dom Toretto and almost everyone said yes.

"Oh well my boyfriend Vince races on Dom's team. Vince'n Dom are like brothers." Her popularity went up just because she knew Dom and his team.

"How many horsepower is this running?" Someone asked her, and other questions about the car came rapid-fire.

"I have no idea. I'm car challenged so I don't know anything about this one." Nyssa didn't answer the questions because she couldn't and she didn't think Vince would want people to know about his car.

The bell rang and they all started in to class. Nyssa remembered to arm the car's security at the last second and she clicked it on. The car chirped and flashed its lights and they headed into class. Nyssa and Manda talked about the fact that she lived with Vince even though they were not dating.

"Well, living with Vince, whether we're an official item or not is better then living with Ed and worrying about what he might try with me. I mean, at least if Vince and I do end up hooking up I'll be a willing participant." Nyssa shrugged. She couldn't find it in herself to care about the fact that she and Vince had never come right out and declared their intentions.

"Yeah, well Daddy is pissed off that you decided to run to a stranger instead of to him. He promised uncle Mark he'd take care of you while Mark was in jail and He doesn't know how he'd gonna do that while you live with a bunch of street racing criminals."

"You told him I live with street racing criminals!? Manda, how could you?" Nyssa shrieked, outraged.

"I didn't tell him in those words. I told him you were staying with Dom Toretto's sister Mia. He knew who Dom was, what was I gonna do?"

"Not tell him where I was staying? God Manda! I'll go talk to Uncle John when I get a chance and try to fix it. I mean if it wasn't for Vince being there that night I'd have been out in the street. After Ed raped me for crying out loud. Things happened so fast that I really didn't have much choice in how they happened."

"I know and I told Daddy that. But he was all mad about 'she's family and she shouldn't have to go live with strangers when we have this huge house right here and there would be lots of room for her here'. You know how he is."

"Too bad your mom hates me in the middle of that huge house."

"She doesn't hate you."

"Yeah she does. At least Vince'n Dom'n Letty'n Mia like me. They mighta started out strangers but they're friends now and they like me for being me." Manda could only nod her understanding.

When the girls got to their first class there were two police officers inside talking to the teacher. They watched as the teacher pointed at them and they heard him say "that's her". They didn't know which one of them he was pointing at. The officers walked over to them and asked which one was Nyssa Williams. Nyssa identified herself and they asked her to come with them to an empty class. Since one was a female officer she said it was fine if the door was left open. She knew she didn't have to answer anything without a lawyer present but since she had no idea what this could be about she went along with them. Since she had done nothing wrong she didn't want to look guilty by refusing to hear them out. She better find out what this was about first.

They walked into the empty class and the officers sat down and asked her to do the same. She took a seat close to them but not right beside where they were seated.

"So what's this about?" Nyssa asked curiously.

"Well young lady, your father is very worried about you. He says that you ran off a few days ago and he hasn't heard from you since. He's asked us to bring you home since you're a run away."

"Oh man that's rich. That's just so funny." Nyssa started to laugh, and she laughed till she was gasping for breath. The concept of Ed giving a care about where she was, let alone reporting her as a run away was almost too funny to comprehend.

"What's so funny about your father being concerned about you? These are some cruel streets for run away teens young lady. You should be grateful that your father is willing to take you back in after you ran off on him."

"Oh come off it!" Nyssa stopped laughing. "You bought his story that I ran away? How many run aways have you ever had reported that keep going to school in the same city? And how's it running away when I come home to find all my stuff in boxes on his lawn? Ed isn't shit to me and he packed up all my stuff and put it out on the lawn." The two officers looked at each other.

"You have all your items out of his house?"

"Yeah. I came home from school last Friday and found all my stuff packed and ready to go. The only reason Ed gives a care about me now is because someone must have filled him in on how much my car is worth and he's trying to get his hands on it. Not to mention that I'm 19 and there's very little Ed can do if I don't want to live with him anymore."

"You're 19?"

"Yeah. I'm 19. Not to mention my real dad is in Lompoc, not dead. I really have no ties to Ed and there's nothing that Ed can do about where I live or when I decided to go live there."

"Well, what about this man you let with? Your father said he was a drug dealer and maybe a pimp too. He's very concerned you were being coerced into leaving with this man. Your father said he looked dangerous, had a lot of tattoos." The officers looked serious and Nyssa laughed again.

"He's not a pimp. He works at a garage as a mechanic. He gave me a place to stay when I had no where since my _step_ father tried to rape me in his hall." Nyssa was sure to emphasize step father because she was sick of hearing them call Ed her father. He was no such thing. "He's nothing more exciting then a mechanic." Nyssa had wondered if Vince was a drug dealer at times but she knew he was not a pimp. The thought of Vince as a pimp made her laugh again.

"You got ID to prove your age? Your _step_ father said you were 17."

Nyssa handed over her driver's license. The cops checked it out and it proved she was 19. There was nothing they could do about Ed's charges. Nyssa was free by the law to live where ever she saw fit. However, they'd already discussed the fact that the blue maxima in the student parking lot looked just like one they knew to belong to one of the street racers on Toretto's team. They knew all of those guys were too old for high school. Maybe the girls new room mates was one of the Toretto racers. They all had tattoos and it had looked like one of their cars.

"This car of yours that you allege Ed wants to get his hands on, is it here with you today?"

"No, I have another car here today. A friend lent it to me while he took mine to work on it in his garage."

"What's your friend's name?"

"Vince. Why are you asking me these questions? What's it to you? Didn't we already decide that I was old enough to live where I wanted and that Ed had no control over that? What does whose car I'm driving have to do with anything?"

"Well, this friend of yours, Vince, he's a street racer for Dominic Toretto. You're living with Dom Toretto aren't you?" The male cop made guesses to try and make himself look smart. He knew very well that Vince was the most likely member of Toretto's gang to be into illegal activities. And there was every reason to think that the Toretto's were involved in some very illegal activities.

"Yeah, I'm staying with his sister Mia." Nyssa thought it looked better for all concerned if she pointed out other women lived in the house too.

"You ever see anything illegal going on in that house? Any drugs or anything else like that?"

"Not unless parties and loud music have become illegal?"

"No miss, they haven't. Thanks for your time." The cop surrendered when it became obvious Nyssa wasn't going to give anything up.

Nyssa went back to her class and sat down with a puzzled look on her face. Manda leaned over and whispered "what did they want?"

"Ed reported me as a run away and the cops came to check it out."

"A run away?"

"Yeah. I gotta tell Vince. They asked about his car."

At the break Manda had to know it all in minute detail. Nyssa told her and then dug in her pockets for a quarter and called Vince on his cell phone.

"Hey V."

"Nyssa, how's school going babe?"

"Shitty. Ed called the cops and told them I was only 17 and a run away. And that you kidnapped me."

"Aw shit, are you downtown?" Vince hated the cops and the police station but he would go get her if he had to. "I'll come get you." He sighed.

"No, once I told them I was 19 and that I hadn't run away or been kidnapped that he kicked me out and only wanted me back for my car they were fine with it and said they couldn't do anything about it if they wanted too."

"Well that's good. Were you scared?"

"Not about that I know my rights and if I didn't want to talk I would've insisted on calling my lawyer, but Vince, they recognized your car in the lot and asked me if I was staying with you. I said yes because I didn't know if I should lie or not you know? And then they asked me stuff about you. Like if I though you were a drug dealer or stuff."

"Or stuff? What did you tell them?"

"I told them you were a mechanic at a friend's garage and that was all I knew." Nyssa hedged.

"What was or stuff? Nyssa you're a shitty liar so you better tell me."

"Well they asked me if you were a pimp or dealing."

Vince laughed. "They thought I was a pimp?"

"Yeah. I laughed too. I thought that was funny. I told them all I knew was that you worked at your friend's garage and that I knew you were not a pimp or a drug dealer."

"Well thanks. But I could be a pimp you know. I could get enough girls to be a pimp. Nothing says that I couldn't." Vince chuckled. "Did they ask you anything else?"

"Just if I ever saw illegal stuff happen at your place. So I told them not unless partying counted and they said no. That was really the end of it. I am sorry that I even told them I knew you. But they know your car pretty well."

"Don't worry about it. The truth is always the best answer unless you really need to lie. It keeps you looking honest. And yeah they all know my car pretty well. No sense lying about that."

"Ok V as long as you're not mad at me."

"No, just finish your day and come home Nys, and we'll do a little driving around the neighbourhood and then get some dinner ok?"

"Sounds so good Vince. See you around 4:00 or so ok? I have to drive Manda home."

"Ok, see you then."

Vince hung up and turned around to see all the guys staring at him.

"What's wrong with Nyssa?" Dom asked.

Vince gave them a run down of what had happened and how Nyssa had handled it. Dom was pleased. Nyssa had told them all the right things and had lied when she had too about what she had seen in the house. She would have seen underage drinking, some drug use and of course street racing, but she didn't tell them about any of it. She must have a cool head on her shoulders. Dom went back to the car he was working on.

Vince and Leon were talking about the same thing. How well Nyssa had kept her cool and protected their backs. It was just what one of them would have done. Protect the team at all costs.

"Dawg you got it bad for the little chica. When you gonna admit it?" Leon ribbed his friend.

"I'm not fallin for her brotha. She's just cool."

"Ok then Dawg, I wanna make a play for her then. She's cuter then I thought and she's cool and down'n shit. Since you don't wanna date her you won't mind right?" Leon licked his lips in mock lust. Vince missed the humor. He growled and moved toward Leon menacingly.

"Over my dead body! She don't need a playa like you that's for sure."

"You may as well admit you got it for her now Vince and save yoself the time of falling harder then you want to later."

"You can go straight to fucken hell Leon. You gonna help me finish this car today or are you gonna have wet dreams about _my_ girl all day?" Leon only laughed, noticing how Vince had put emphaisis on the my part of that statement. Coyote had it bad, and it was only time before he realized it himself.

Nyssa showed up home at 4:10. She knew she was late but it wasn't much. She ran in the house and called out for Vince. She knew he was home because her car was home. He finally answered her back from downstairs so she went down looking for him. She didn't find him in the living room or his room. When she finally checked the bathroom after not finding him in either of the first places she found him.

He had his hand under running water and the bathroom was covered in blood. The mystery of how he got into the bathroom without leaving blood all through the house was solved when she spied his shirt in the bathtub leaving a bloody trail toward the drain.

"What the heck happened Vince?" Nyssa took in the blood in the sink and across the floor. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine. I was cutting wires and the knife slipped and cut my hand."

"Damn it V. What were you thinking using a knife for that? Use your head. You should have been using pliers or wire cutters for this exact reason. Let me see." She took his hand out of the water and looked at the cut. It was deep but she didn't think it was deep enough for stitches. Then again she wasn't a doctor, but she just knew that he'd meet any suggestions that involved the hospital with resistance. She had him stick his hand back under the water and looked around the bathroom until she found bandages and rubbing alcohol. She turned off the water.

"Hold your hand over the bathtub."

"Why?" Vince narrowed his eyes at Nyssa in suspicion.

"Because we have to clean that cut."

"It is clean. It was under running water for like 15 minutes."

"It needs to be cleaner then that Vince. Put your hand over the tub." He complied, still looking suspicious of her plan. "This is going to hurt like hell V." He nodded and she flooded the cut with the alcohol. His breath hissed between his teeth despite himself. He fought the curses that came to his lips, knowing if he let them out she'd know how much the alcohol had hurt.

She set the alcohol down and rapped his hand in the bandage she had been able to find. She wrapped it up tight to try to stop the bleeding.

"I think you'll be ok without stitches but I think you need to take it easy for awhile. No driving or anything else that could loosen that bandage and start the bleeding again."

"You're over reacting. I'll be fine in an hour. It'll scab over by then and I'll be fine." He looked up from where he was sitting on the side of the tub to where Nyssa was standing in front of him looking down. "How was your day?" Vince grinned, trying to put Nyssa at ease, seeing her worry for him in her eyes.

"Fine." She refused to take his bait. She was worried and no amount of inane questions and cute smiles was going to make her forget. Like he knew that Vince stood up. "It was boring." She elaborated, holding his eyes. He took a step closer til they were almost pressed against each other. He slowly leaned down and still holding her eyes he kissed her. The way she'd been so concerned for him had touched some part of him that he tried to keep away from the world. Plus he figured if he kept her occupied she wouldn't keep going on about her worry and lecturing him on the proper tools he should have been using.

From the first second he kissed her she kissed him back. She always did. Vince guessed he knew she was into him for awhile now, he just hadn't wanted to acknowledge it because that meant he'd have to look at his feelings for her too. But then he thought, it might be time for him to look those feelings as he felt her melting into his arms. He was running his good hand up her back and she was running her hands up and down his back too. He stopped kissing her mouth and started down her neck. She tilled her head to give him easier access. He found the sensitive spot where her neck and shoulder met and bit her. She moaned. He kissed her on the mouth again and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. He knew just how to touch her to make her forget she was mad at him, worried about him and trying to stay detached until she had some sort of commitment from him.

Jesse walked into the bathroom and saw Vince and Nyssa kissing. He stood in the doorway dumbfounded for a minute. He was seeing Vince, in broad daylight, making out with a girl in the bathroom. He stuttered out an apology and backed out of the room.

Nyssa turned red and burrowed her face into Vince's chest with a horrified moan. Vince laughed and she felt the vibrations of it rumble in his big chest.

"I don't know what you find so funny." Nyssa was horrified to have been caught making out in the bathroom. What would they have done? Done _it_ on the floor with the door open?

"You missed the look on poor Jesse's face." Vince said, still laughing at the memory. "Well, at least you took my mind off my pain." She looked at his hand and was pleased to see the bandage was not even red so the bleeding had stopped. "What'dya say we go continue where we, um, got interrupted in my room."

"I don't think so."

"Ah, come on. I'll show you a good time." Vince leaned over and started nibbling on her neck again. "I promise we won't be interrupted once we close that door."

"You owe me a drive around the neighbourhood." Nyssa struggled softly to get away, not liking how dangerously close she was to giving him his way.

"We got all night to go for a drive. I think I got something in there you'll find more interesting." He took her hand and started to back out of the bathroom, taking her with him.

"You're the one who says I need to practice more." Nyssa reminded him and giggled at the look on his face.

"But I'm hurt. One day off won't matter that much. I need you to help me out with some things I can't do one handed." Vince raised one eyebrow in suggestive invitation.

"Yeah, well all you gotta do is sit in the car and be encouraging. I want to go for a drive."

"I wanna show you something new I got today. It's right in here." Vince tried to lead her into his dark room, the high window shuttered by the blind. "Come on girl, you know you wanna. I can see it in your eyes." He kissed her again.

"You know, you're not half as smooth as you think you are. I want to go for a drive." Nyssa leaned back at the door of his room and locked her feet, knowing full well what would happen if she let him get her into the dark. She'd never be able to hold her resolve. Vince capitulated reluctantly.

"Fine, but you drive my car. I want to see how you're doing with it." Nyssa grinned with her victory and they took his car out on the road. She did well with it at the track. It wasn't as fast as her car but it wasn't as touchy in the shifting department either.

"I want that tint for my windows you promised me. I like driving better when no one can see in the car." Nyssa reminded Vince of his commitment to get her windows done for her.

"Yeah, I'll get on that as soon as I have two good hands again." Vince mock pouted to remind her of his disability, hoping it would gain him some sympathetic treatment later. Nyssa only grinned at him, knowing full well what he was up to.

They drove around for an hour and then headed home. They ate supper and Nyssa and Mia went up to Mia's room to do homework. The guys and Letty talked about the job they had to do tonight.

"You think what you're gonna tell that girl if she wakes up when your getting ready to leave tonight Vince? Nice as she is I can't believe you didn't ask me or tell us before you asked her to live here." Dom got some of his bottled anger about Nyssa's presence out in the open.

"I'm gonna tell her I can't sleep and I'm goin for a drive. Don't worry about it. I can take care of her and she'll never know what's up Brotha. You need to chill out." Vince figured his plan was sound and he wished Dom would lay off about it.

"I guess she'll buy that." Dom looked reassured.

The team went and watched some TV. Nyssa came down around 10 and watched some TV with them. Mia joined them a few minutes later. Nyssa told Vince she was going to bed around 11. He told her good night and she went to bed. About half an hour later they all went to bed because they had to get up at 4 to go and do their thing.


	15. Stubborn Man

Chapter 14 - Stubborn Man.

The team had been hijacking trucks with high priced merchandise for about 3 months now. This would be the fourth job for them and because of it they all had a lot of money in the bank. It was relatively easy money for them. They had a contact at the shippers who told them what truck was their target when they'd find it and where to look. Their contact got what was really a small share of the money then the team split the rest 5 ways. Dom, Letty, Leon, Jesse and Vince.

Dom and Vince took one car and it was their job to get in front of the truck. Then Vince used a spear gun to pop out the window of the truck, then another one to repel up to the cab. Once there he put the driver out with a tranquilizer dart and drove the truck. Leon and Jesse ran inference and manned the scanner listening for police and Letty also ran interference to keep the truck going their way. She served as a distraction to the driver as Vince did his part. Each job netted them about 2 million split 5 ways.

Letty wanted to stop. She said they had enough for a lifetime of easy living now. She'd seen her own bank balance grow and she knew each of her friends had the same amout. Letty had started to think getting more was pushing their luck and getting greedy. Something was bound to go wrong. The guys got off on the rush and the money. There was a big job on the horizon and getting Dom to stop before then was just not going to happen. Dom rationalized that he had to take care of Mia. She had big plans in school and Dom was determined to see her make her goals without worrying about how to pay for it all.

They drove 3 Honda Civics for the jobs. Dom kept them stashed outside of Thermal. Mia knew he was up to something. She was a smart girl and might even have figured out what by now. She knew about the Civics. Dom was concerned by times she might tell Brian something about it. He liked Brian but he didn't trust him yet. He knew Vince had never told Nyssa anything. The day would come when she would have to know but until her and Vince were officially a couple she didn't need to know.

He was proud of the way his Letty could drive. She was the most daring driver among them bar none. She pulled stunts that the guys wouldn't dream of. Like driving under the trailers of the trucks when she had to. Hell, when she wanted to. She got off on the trick driving the same way the guys got off on the thrill of the chase. Dom could imagine Letty making a living doing stunt driving for shows and movies if she wanted to. She had a talent for it that he himself did not.

Vince went to bed and set his alarm. He hoped the alarm didn't wake Nyssa. He was quick at turning it off so it should be ok. Half the mornings he ended up getting up just to wake her and send her off to school because he heard the alarm and turned it off before she ever woke up. He went to sleep without trouble. He didn't worry about what they were doing. He was competent at his part and he trusted Dom implicitly to keep him safe.

The alarm went off some hours later and he turned it off right away. Nyssa made a murmur and snuggled closer to him but she didn't wake up. He slid out of bed, careful to slide a pillow into her arms to replace him and keep her asleep and dressed in his normal outfit for the activity in the dark. Blue jeans went on first, carefully so they wouldn't make any noise and a black tee shirt with a black mesh tank top over it. His flack jacket and repelling gear were stashed in the civics along with the spear gun. He looked down at Nyssa sleeping so contentedly in his bed and hoped everything went well with more feeling this time. He didn't want to think of what would happen to her if he never came home.

Would the team still accept her if he weren't around?

Would it be Dom or Leon who got to finish teaching her to drive her car?

Would she get over him and fall for Leon or Jesse?

He didn't want to think about it. He quietly let himself out of the room and the team took off. He hoped to be back in bed by 7am, long before the alarm went off again to wake Nyssa for school. They drove to their cars and headed after the truck in the darkness. Vince's hand hurt like hell but he didn't want to tell anyone in case they thought he could not do his job. He just did what he always did. He kept the pain inside and used it to focus on the job at hand. He knew too much was riding on him doing what he had trained to do to let the team down now.

Nyssa rolled over in bed with a groan and half opened her eyes. Half awake, Nyssa looked over at the clock. She realized it was only 5 am. She had no idea why she was awake. She groaned. She really didn't want to be awake. She had two and a half more hours of sleep before she had to be up. After realizing she was sprawled on her back in the middle of the bed and she hadn't heard Vince complain about a fist to the face when she'd done it she figured she must be alone in bed. She sat up and looked around the room, and he was no where to be found.

Where the hell was Vince? Nyssa always had to go to the bathroom when she woke up or she couldn't go back to sleep. She wandered to the bathroom and on the way she saw that Jesse's door was cracked open. She could swear his bed looked empty but she didn't want to be nosy in case he was in there so she just used the bathroom and headed back to bed. She was sure Vince would have a good reason for being missing at 5am. She fell back asleep quickly and deeply, hugging Vince's pillow.

When the alarm went off at 7:15am, Vince shut it off like he always did. She was awake this time though; he didn't have to wake her up like he normally did. If it pissed him off to wake up this early every day even though he didn't have to, he never let on to her. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and went and took her morning shower. She came back and just got dressed. She was pretty well beyond caring if Vince watched her or not. She always took clean underwear to the bathroom with her so it wasn't like he ever saw her naked or anything. She picked out an outfit and started to get ready. When she was ready she sat on the bed beside him.

"You go back to sleep V?" She asked softly.

"Not yet." He said in that deep, gravely, I'm so not awake, morning voice she loved.

"So am I to take it that I'm taking your car to school again today?"

"Sure, I'm gonna sleep in today."

"Where were you last night baby?" She brushed some hair off his face, feeling a protective instinct she couldn't explain.

"Couldn't sleep so I went for a drive to try and unwind some. Some times I just can't sleep when I'm too tired. But I think I could sleep for a few more hours now."

"Oh, poor baby. You sleep now and I'll see you this afternoon. Just let me see that hand before I go." Nyssa waited expectantly. Vince tried not to comply but he finally accepted she wasn't going anywhere till she saw what she wanted. So he showed her and there was some blood on the bandage now. "See what I told you about takin it easy? You opened this up just goin for a drive. You shoulda stayed here and watched TV." He grunted. She laughed softly at his expressive nature, and kissed his forehead then his hand and stood up.

"I'da rathered watch you sleep." He mumbled, almost back to sleep, and then added a garbled "good bye" and she let herself out.

Nyssa found Dom sitting at the kitchen table. He could never go back to sleep after a job. No matter what he did, it was always the same, he was up for the day. Letty was sleeping like a baby upstairs but Dom was stuck up, bleary eyed and in a bad mood. Dom spotted Nyssa trying to make a quiet exit from the house and decided not to let her off that easy. He wasn't a fun man to be around while he was in a bad mood.

"Where you sneakin off to?"

"I'm not sneaking anywhere." Nyssa answered, her eyes giving away her caught state. "I got school."

"Yeah, where's V? Doesn't he normally drive you there?"

"Yeah, but he had some trouble sleeping last night and he's stayin in bed."

"You need a lift?" Dom sighed and moved to get up. He had no desire to drive anyone anywhere.

"I'm good. I'm gonna take his car to class today."

"What's wrong with him that he can't get up and drive you to class?"

"Nothin. Well, not nothing I guess. He was cutting something yesterday and the knife slipped and he cut his hand pretty bad. I told him to take a few days off and not do anything with it so it'd have time to heal but he didn't listen to me and he opened it up on his ride last night. I mean, I washed it really well and wrapped it but I hope it's not infected. You might tell him to clean it again if he gets up later and you see him, aye?"

"If I see him I'll remind him." Dom fought a grin, thinking to himself no one would get away with telling ol' coyote what to do except the slight girl who apparently had some sort of immunity from his wicked temper.

"Alrighty then, I'm off to school. Check on V later, ok Dom?" Nyssa felt funny asking but she couldn't fight the feeling something wasn't right with Vince. She couldn't leave without knowing someone would look in on him, that he'd be ok.

"Yeah. I'll check on him later. You're gonna be late."

"Shit, so I am. Bye!" Nyssa took off for the driveway and took off for school at a breakneck pace that even a few days ago it would never haven entered her head to attempt.

Dom sat at the table a few minutes after Nyssa had gone, just lost in thought. He liked that she worried about Vince. Lord knew Vince hadn't even mentioned he had cut himself let alone that it was that bad. Dom was glad the job went off without a hitch, since Vince was kind of the most important player. Vince would never admit he was sick or injured.

There had been this one time he had been hurt as a kid he kept saying it was fine, fine fine. Finally Mr. Toretto had insisted that Vince go to the hospital and it had turned out Vince had a broken wrist. He was always the tough guy.

Nyssa hit McDonald's for breakfast on her way to school. She almost turned the car around and went back to bed with Vince. She couldn't shake the thought that all was not well with her coyote. She reminded herself less then a month and she was done of school for good and she really couldn't afford to miss the time. After all in a short month it would be summer. Then she had nothing to do all day but drive her car and Dom was going to put her to work part time in the garage as an errand girl and working the desk, booking appointments and answering the phone. She was cool with that. She hoped Vince was ok with it though. They spent a lot of time together as it was and she didn't know if he would be all that thrilled that he would now be working with her too.

She was listening to the local radio station when the news came on. She figured she was a bit out of touch since she'd moved to Dom's and turned the news up. The story of the day was about a daring robbery of a transport truck. It seemed that three Honda Civics had swarmed the driver, knocked him out and hijacked the truck. They took the truck somewhere and unloaded the cargo onto what police assumed was their own truck and when the driver came too he was left with his truck in a strange place with no cargo. It was the fourth such robbery in the last few months and it was the same group of people doing them all. Same precision driving and black Civics with green underbody neon kits, and the same tires on all the cars, same skid marks at every scene.

In that second Nyssa knew it was Vince and his team. It had happened last night right in the time Vince claimed he couldn't sleep. He'd done something tough enough to open his cut, and he was dead tired. It had to be them. She knew they all had the driving skills to pull it off.

Wow, she thought, it was straight up crazy. Not that she really cared when she thought about it. She thought it was sorta cool. Just like a modern day western. Her friends were like highwaymen from the old days. She'd known Vince was some sort of criminal but nothing like reality. Instead of finding out he _was_ a drug dealer it turned out he was pulling some pretty hi tech stuff.

She knew couldn't let on she knew or Dom might think that Vince had told her and get angry with him. Then one or both of them might even kick her out. Now she knew why Vince was so worried that Brian was a cop. A cop around was the last thing they'd want. It made her feel special they hadn't told her to get lost.

She decided to go visit her dad that evening and tell him what happened in regards to her living situation. As far as he knew she still lived with Ed. She figured that she owed him to update him on her situation. Plus she missed him and she figured he should know where his only child was living. She also had a few favors to ask him.

She got to school and ran into class. Manda was already there, wonder of wonders. Manda was never on time. Nyssa sat down just under the late bell. Her morning classes seemed to fly by. She and Manda decided to take Vince's car out to lunch. They took two other girls with them and hit a Wendy's that was close to the school. They laughed and talked girl stuff over lunch and the other two girls Marie and Kelly, had to know all about Vince since he had such a nice car and he let Nyssa borrow it. Nyssa went on about how he was awesome and so good looking, and very nice. Manda just rolled her eyes, still not seeing Vince how her cousin saw him.

They got back to school and Nyssa groaned. There was Ed, waiting by the door to the school. She turned to get back in the car and just bounce but she really didn't want to miss school. She also didn't want to deal with Ed's shit.

"Manda, hold up and wait with me. I don't know why he's here but it can't be good."

"No kidden." Manda agreed and leaned back onto the car, watching Ed approach.

"Hello Nyssandre."

"It's Nyssa, you ass, and what do you want." Nyssa sneered down her nose at her step father and his use of her full name.

"I just want to tell you that you can move home if you want. I miss you."

"Sure you do. You just want to try to get your hands on my car."

"That's not true. Where is your car? This's not the car you told me was yours."

"No, it's not. It belongs to my friend Vince. You know him. The guy you were so scared of you nearly shit your pants when he just looked at you. The guy you told the cops was a pimp and a drug dealer, and that he kidnapped you poor underage step daughter."

"Well I was just worried."

"No need Ed. I'm happy and safe with Dom and his family. You know the cops don't like it when you lie to them Ed."

"I thought the guy was Vince." Ed looked at Nyssa in speculation, clearly confused about the living arrangements and trying to figure if there was anything in it for him.

"It is. I live with his friend Dom and Dom's sister. And well Dom's girlfriend and Vince and Leon and Jesse. So don't start shit. There are always big guys around to look out for me. And Letty could kick your ass too. Plus I'm going to see daddy tonight and tell him all about what you did."

"You bitch." Ed made a move to hit her.

"Ah ah ah Ed. I have a witness and I'll send Vince after you again."

"You win this time but you better watch your back."

Nyssa only laughed as Ed went over to his Cavalier and left.

"That guy is creepy." Manda said.

"You got that right. Let's get to class before we're late again." Nyssa armed the car and they headed in to class.

After school she headed back to Dom's and straight down the stairs to what she was fast thinking of as 'their' room. She found Vince still in bed. She crawled across her side and peered down at him, sitting on her knees by his side. He looked like he was asleep. She put a hand on his forehead and he felt overly warm. She shook him by the shoulder. "Vince." He didn't respond. "Vince. Baby. Vince sweetie, wake up." He groaned but didn't wake up. She shook him some more and he came too. He looked up at her and his eyes looked kind of glassy. "You ok baby? You don't look good."

"I don't feel good either Nys. My head hurts and I'm so hot."

She peeled the covers off him and he had all his clothes on. He was dressed to go out. "How'd you end up in bed with all your clothes on?"

"I started to go to work this afternoon and I felt like shit so I laid down for a second to just take a few minutes rest and then I fell back asleep. I never had the energy to get undressed again."

Nyssa helped him out of his soaking wet shirts and pants and after covering him back up with the blanket took his hand into her lap and undid the bandages. His hand was most definitely infected. She swore softly under her breath, figuring she'd have to dress him in clean clothes and take him to a doctor. She predicted world war three even as she stood up and started rooting in his drawers. "Well babe, your hand is infected. You need to see a doctor and get put on antibiotics for it. You likely need stitches too."

"No way, no doctors." He barely croaked out, looking at her out of narrowed eyes that were barely coherent.

"Vince, you're burning up, the cut looks awful and you're a total space cadet. You need to go to the hospital."

"No, I hate the hospital. I won't go and I'd like to see you make me."

"Yes you will. I'm going to try to get your fever down first but if you're still this feverish and out of it in 30 minutes that's it. I get Dom to help me get you to the car then we go."

"No." He said but it came out as a deep moan. He was really out of it and in pain. She shook her head. Stubborn man. He overdid it with the injury then got mad when he got sick. She got a bowl of ice water and a cloth and wiped him down with the cold water. The fever never came down but the chills set in. She knew then that he had to go to the hospital or he was in danger of ending up really sick. She ran upstairs looking for Dom or Leon. She found Dom.

"Dom did you check on Vince at all today?" Nyssa asked with a touch of reproach, her worry for Vince overriding her normal cautiousness around Dom.

"No, I just figured he was tired. Why?"

"Cause he's really sick and we need to take him to the hospital I think. He has a bad fever and I can't get it down and now he has chills. He is hardly coherent and I don't think he can get to the car on his own and I can't move him for sure. I need your help to move him to the car then I'll take him to the hospital."

"Come on, I'll come with you."

She was glad for the company. Dom was shocked to see the state Vince was in. He had thought Nyssa was over reacting but she wasn't. Vince was burning up. Dom helped her put a clean tank and jeans on him and they started up to the car. On the way up the stairs Vince was still protesting that he didn't want to go.

"I don't need the hospital. I'll be fine in a day or two. I'm too old for you guys to force me to go."

"No you aren't. You're going and it's too bad that you don't like it. Be quiet and get in the car." They decided to take Vince's car as it still had a full back seat. Nyssa got in the back with Vince and Dom drove. He drove at the speed of light but they never saw a cop anywhere.


	16. I Wanna Go Home

AN: I know it's been a while since I updated anything. Sorry 'bout that. To be honest I don't know when that will change. I'm regrouping from a major burn out from this site and life in general so when I'm back to myself hopefully I'll find time to write more. I do have a new motto for my life now though. "I'd rather laugh with the sinners then cry with the saints". In short, no more miss nice Tempest. The reason why I'm updating this is because I'm just more or less using my own story to practice my editing and revising skills so it's easier then writing and revising new stuff from scratch. There is talk of me making time to write Tough But Tender this weekend so I'm gonna see where that goes. Anyway, since I don't know when I'll update TBT or Adrenaline I thought I'd put this note on here. I know there are some peeps curious about if I'm still alive. Thanks for your emails people, they mean the world. Cheer, you know you're my inspiration to still be here, much love from the land of the Hockey boys! Ian, dude, thanks for being there and for all the support. Damn Atlantic ocean, cause you know I'd help you out with your other little issue if it wasn't in the way. There are a few other issues I have to 'take out' in England anyways but I think the airport staff would take exception to my rifle in customs. giggles New chapter in three…two…one…!

Chapter 15 - I wanna go Home!

They arrived at the hospital and Vince was admitted right away. He was put on an IV of antibiotic and they cleaned the cut. It turned out something that had gotten into his body via the cut, likely off the knife he'd cut himself on had given him blood poisoning. The doctor decided to stitch it while Vince was there because it _was_ so deep and plus if it was closed the reasoned it shouldn't get infected again.

When it was done the nurse left Nyssa to try to cool Vince off with cool cloths since it was obvious she was not leaving his side. Vince woke up with a lucid look on his face for the first time all day after he had been out of it in the hospital for about 2 hours.

"Where am I Nys? How the hell did I get here?"

"We had to take you to the hospital. You had a nasty infection in your hand and blood poisoning which gave you one hell of a fever. We couldn't wake you up at home when I got home from school so we brought you here. You don't remember fighting with me about how much you hated the hospital?"

"No, I don't remember the drive here either. How did you get me to the car if I was unconscious?" Vince couldn't figure that out for the life of him. No matter how strong she was there was no way she could move him if he was an unconscious dead weight. He was very well aware of how much he weighed.

"Oh shit! Dom helped me get you here. Speaking of whom, he's still waiting outside. Dom helped me get you up the stairs and he drove here. I should tell him you're awake. He feels bad that he didn't check on you when you never got up today. He's been sulking and feeling guilty in the hall." She went into the hall and told Dom he could come in now because Vince was awake and ok.

Dom came in and did the typical 'man, I knew it was nothing act'. The doctor came into the room to check on Vince's status.

"When can I go home?" Vince asked as the doctor checked the stitches and Vince's temperature and blood pressure.

"We'll be discharging you tomorrow after a night of observation. I can't see any reason why you won't get out tomorrow if you continue to improve this rapidly."

"No way am I staying in here overnight. I'm fine and I'm going home now. I'm not stayin here all night." Vince started to get up. Dom shot him a dirty look, warning him to listen to the doctor.

"Young man its standard hospital policy to keep patients as sick as you were when you arrived in over night and on an antibiotic drip. You can have one of your friends pick you up tomorrow at 11am."

Nyssa had dealt with her brother when he was sick and Danny always pulled the same sort of thing. The first time when he'd been shot they'd wanted to keep him for a week and he'd nearly flipped out. Danny had been happier at home. She figured Vince would be the same way. She interjected on the doctor and Vince's conversation.

"Can't he go home if we promise to keep him quiet in bed for the rest of the night? You really don't want him here, harassing everyone and being a general pain in the butt. And he will be a pain, I'll tell ya. I took care of my brother through an infection following a gun shot wound so this would be a piece of cake."

"Is this your brother young lady?" The doctor turned his eyes toward Nyssa, wondering what kind of family it was that they nursed each other better from gunshot wounds.

"No, this is not my brother. My brother passed away in the line of duty after he was shot a second time. Only he died instantly that time. But I can take care of Vince and make sure he takes it easy and takes his pills. He'll never stay here. Better to release him to me and Dom so we can make sure he goes straight back to bed. If not he'll just end up either taking off on you or harassing your staff."

"Well…" The doctor considered the young lady in front of him and her points. It was most unusual but the man did look like he would be a terrible patient.

"Hello. I'm an adult and I think I have a say in this. I wanna go home." Vince did not appreciate being talked about like he did not exist. He shot Nyssa a dirty look for her slights on his character and then gave a challenging look to the doctor.

"Fine, we'll send him home in the care of the two of you. Keep him quiet for the evening and don't let him strain his hand at all. Plus he has to take these pills three times a day for the next seven days." Nyssa took the pills and the nurse came and unhooked Vince. He got up and Dom left so he could get dressed. Nyssa stayed.

"You sure are difficult you know that?" Nyssa asked as she read the pill bottle trying not to laugh at the tough guy whining to get out of the hospital early.

"I hate the hospital. I want to go home."

"Well you get your wish. Danny hated it here too. I always got him out early and took care of him at home." Nyssa looked up with a wistful expression in her eyes, thinking back to the good days of having her brother at home with her, taking care of her and needing her to take care of him in return.

"You must miss him huh?" Vince paused in the middle of dressing, pants on but not much else, and looked at Nyssa.

"Lots. But it gets easier to remember the good things with time. Besides I didn't want to have to sleep in the basement without you. I'd get scared and end up staying with Leon. I don't want you in a fist fight with Leon with that bad hand." She giggled.

Vince growled and grabbed her. He'd never gotten around to put his shirt on. He pulled her against him. "You don't belong in any bed but mine." He kissed her and she responded like she always did to him. Instant and primal. She broke it off this time, conscious of being in a hospital room.

"Let's get outta here V." He finished dressing and they left. Dom would not let Vince drive as per the doctor's orders. Nyssa climbed in the back and assumed Vince would take the other front seat, boys riding together. She was wrong. He crawled in the back with her and lay down across the seat with his head in her lap. He was still tired even if he didn't want to stay in the hospital. She played with his hair while she stared out the window. They were home before she knew it. It was only 6pm. They helped Vince into the house and put him to bed. Both of them missed the look Dom gave them about they're ride home. He was more confused then ever about his best friend.

Nyssa tucked him in then lay down beside him, on top of the covers.

"I'm gonna go visit my dad. I haven't been to see him since my brother died so he has no idea what I've been up to. It could take a while. I want you to stay here in bed and not do anything. Ok?"

"Stay in bed with you I could do. Stay here alone, I'm not so sure about." Vince leered.

"Vince, you better listen to me. If I come home and you're anywhere but in this bed, so help me…" She trailed off, leaving what she would do threateningly absent from the conversation. "And if you're good while I'm gone I'll stay home from class tomorrow and take care of you since you're not allowed outta bed then either. Ok?" Vince smiled at her thinking it would be nice to be taken care of for a change.

Nyssa changed into the girliest outfit he had ever seen her wear. It was a long skirt with dragons on it. It kind of wrapped around her and tied at the waist. She put on a white tee shirt with a red dragon on the front and strappy sandals that tied up her legs. She put on silver hoop earrings and put up her hair in a messy bun. She looked awesome to him.

"Sure you have to leave? You should stay here and let me unwrap you."

"You need to sleep and I need to do this. I'll see you soon."

She leaned over and kissed him goodbye then left. She took his car up to Lompoc.

She went in and went through all of the security checks. This time her dad was brought into a small room with a table and two chairs. They embraced and Mark cried.

"Nyssandre. You're so pretty. You've grown so much. And you're thinner then the last time I saw you. You look great."

"I missed you so much Daddy. I know you told me not to come here but so much has happened I need to talk to you about it."

"Of course sweetie. What's on your mind?"

"Well, when Danny died you know the state left me with Mom's second husband Ed right?"

"Yeah. Not that I was happy about it."

"Well, me neither but there wasn't much I could do. But then one day I was staying at Manda's and she took me out to some car show." Nyssa was careful not tell him a street racing meet. She knew her dad would not take it well. "But we got separated and I got into some trouble so I got a ride with a guy I met there."

"Nyssa I don't like where this is going."

"I know Dad but hear me out. Vince wanted to drive me home but I wouldn't let him."

"Why not?" Mark couldn't understand why she wouldn't take a ride home when it was offered.

"Let me finish Daddy!" Nyssa giggled, then sobered for what was to come. "I never wanted to worry you when you were stuck in here but Ed has a drinking problem. I was wearing some of Manda's clothes and if I'd gone home dressed like I was for the car show he'd have flipped out at me. He's taken swings at me in the past and I didn't want to know what he'd do if I went home in Manda's outfit that late at night in the car of a strange man."

"Did he ever manage to hit you?" Nyssa knew her father was going into icy calm mode, never a good sign.

"A few times, no big deal. But anyway I told Vince to take me to Danny's garage so I could stay the night there and go to school the next day but when Vince saw the place he wouldn't leave me there."

"I'm liking him more and more." Mark raised an eyebrow waiting on his daughter to continue.

"Yeah, he took me back to his place and let me use his bed for the night."

"I take back my earlier statement. You slept with him?" Her dad looked scandalized.

"Yes and no. We shared his bed but he stayed on his own side and was a perfect gentleman about it. He even drove me to school the next day, and he told me he'd teach me how to drive a standard and how to drive Danny's car. So we took the car out after school that Monday and when I came home Ed knew I'd been late to school and hadn't spent the night with Manda. He was pretty mad. He called me some names and well…"

"Well what sweetheart?"

"He tried some stuff. He only managed to kiss me but that was only because Vince got worried I was taking so long to get back out to the car and came in to check on me. He was waiting to take me out to dinner and then he found Ed doing what he was. He threw Ed off me and when Ed took a run at me he scared him off. But the thing was Ed had already packed up all my stuff and put it outside."

"He kicked you out."

"Yeah. So Vince took me in."

"Do I know this Vince person Nyssa? I don't like the sound of this one bit. Why don't you go live with John?"

"Because Manda's mom hates me perhaps?"

"No she doesn't."

"Besides that," Nyssa didn't want to go into the whole situation of Manda's mom again. "You do know Vince. He use to come visit his friend Dom Toretto. You must remember Dom Toretto?"

"Yes, I remember Dom. What does this man you're living with have to do with him?"

"Well, it's really Dom's house. Vince is the sorta shaggy guy that used to come around and visit Dom and he lives in Dom's house too. They had an extra room they're letting me use. Dom's sister is just a bit older then me." Nyssa was careful to hide the fact she was sharing a room with Vince, no matter how innocent it currently was. "Vince is helping me learn to drive Danny's Skyline and Dom says I can work for him in his garage if I go to college to learn mechanics."

"Dom Toretto huh? Are you street racing?"

"No. Of course not." Nyssa knew her dad saw the fact that she wanted to written all over her face. Her dad did not look impressed.

"There have been things I was more thrilled about Nyssa."

"I know. I'm gonna be ok though Dad. I'm happy there. Say, is my old car still at the house? You still own the big house right?"

"Yeah, I still own in and your car is still there. Why don't you move back in there? There's no need of you staying with strangers when we have our own house."

"I won't live in that big house alone Daddy. It's too big and lonely. I'm really happy with Mia and Letty at Dom's. Just try to be happy for me ok, and don't worry. I'm ok and you know where I am."

"Ok, but call Uncle Steve and get copies of the house and car keys incase you need a place to stay ok? Then I won't worry about you so much." Nyssa nodded her agreement. Steve was not really her uncle, just a close family friend but he and her dad had been best friends since second grade.

"Ok. I guess you heard mom took off?"

"Yeah. I heard." Mark sighed. "I can't believe she changed so much so fast. Leaving me I understood. She couldn't stand to lose her status in the community. But abandoning you kids with that loser she married was just beyond decency."

"Yeah, I wonder if she was on something. I had some people look for her but no one ever found her. Best the last PI could figure she ran back to Porto Rico. I figured she should know about Danny, no matter how terrible a mom she was for the last few years of his life."

"You did your best to tell her, that's all you can do sweetie."

"I know." Nyssa sighed and looked at the clock. She knew the guard would be along to tell her she had to leave soon. She still had a few things to talk about. "Daddy?"

"Um hum?"

"Think you could give me an allowance till I finish school and start working for Dom?" Nyssa looked up at her dad, embarrassed to be asking him for money while he was stuck in jail.

"Nyssa, I can more then give you an allowance. I can take care of you. There are ways, money that Steve can show you how to get to. You have credit cards in your name and the bills will be paid. Don't worry about it. Just talk to Steve and you'll be all set. You can take whatever you need sweetheart. Don't worry. There's lots." Mark tried to tell her he had lots of money the government had never been able to find set aside. "The house is in your name. I guess it's really your house now. There's no need for you to slave in a hot garage all summer you know. You can just spend my money, live in your house and take it easy."

"Daddy, stop trying to cross me over to this idea you have of me living in the big house. It isn't going to happen. But I'll take the money, only because I really need it." Nyssa giggled.

"You can't blame me for hating the idea of my little girl staying with a bunch of street racing guys in a party house ok?"

"I guess I understand. But I'm happy Daddy. What else would I do all summer? Wait for my friends to get off their jobs in a big lonely house all day long. Spend summer alone? Just trust me that I'm happy ok?"

"Ok, ok, you're happy. I get it." Mark laughed. "Just be careful, and finish school."

"I will." Nyssa gave her dad Dom's number. "I won't come here again if it bothers you Daddy. I just had to tell you this to your face."

"I miss you too much to tell you not to come anymore. But don't make a habit of it. I hate to think of you in a place like this, even just to visit. Stay out of trouble baby, you don't want to end up in jail like me."

"I'll be a good girl Daddy. I promise." Nyssa stood up and her father did too. They hugged just as the guard came in to tell them visiting time was over.

Nyssa left the jail and called her Uncle Steve right away. He met her at Dom's and she left the Nissan there. On the drive to her old house Steve gave her bank account numbers, her two charge cards, the keys to the house and her old car her dad had bought for her 16th. When they arrived at the house they went straight into the garage. Her baby started right up on the first key flick. It was a '67 mustang convertible. Candy apple red. It was in pure stock condition and had been perfectly restored. It was in show car shape and not meant for racing. She thanked Steve and headed home to Vince.

She found him in bed but he reading not sleeping when she got home.

"How'd it go with her dad?" He asked her, looking up from his magazine.

"It was good. He's not too thrilled about me staying here but he thinks I'm staying in a room upstairs with Mia and Letty. Say, you up for a little slow stroll to the driveway?"

"Yeah. Why? Did anything happen to my car?" Vince asked suspiously on their way up the stairs.

"No, I just have something else to show you." They went up to the drive and she showed him the mustang.

He had to know where it came from. She told him the story and what happened while she visited her dad. She told him it had been a 16th birthday gift and it had been a year or more since she had seen it and just figured that the house and the contents of it would have been confiscated at first, and when she found out they had been in her mom's name at first and now were in fact in Nyssa's name she had just never gone to get it.

"I figured so that I could stop driving your car and not worry about learning to take the skyline everywhere so fast I'd go get this and drive it around. Ok, back to bed for you."

"I'm not weak all of a sudden." Vince growled, not liking it when she pointed out that he was supposed to stay in bed.

"Well, you still need to stay in bed tonight or back to the hospital you go." They headed back down to Vince's room and he crawled back in bed.

"You still feeling weak baby?" She asked.

"No, of course not." Came the answer but she could tell he was fibbing.

"I'm tired out myself. Glad I'm not getting up for school tomorrow." She started to change into her night dress. It was one she wore when it was hot outside. Spaghetti straps and a silky material. She slid into bed. "See you in the morning V." She lay on her back and next thing she knew he was looming over her.

"Not going to bed without your good night kiss are you?"

"Well I thought you'd be tired."

"I'm never too tired for kissing you." She held her arms open and he leaned in and kissed her. He kissed her eyelids and the tip of her nose after her mouth. "Thanks for standing up for me and making sure I got to come home. I get fucked up in hospitals."

"I could tell. My bro hated them too and I always did take him home and take care of him."

"How did it go with your dad? Was he mad that you went to see him even though he told you not to? Dom said the same thing but he was always secretly happy when we visited him anyway." Vince moved away, lying back on his back, hand behind his head.

"Yeah, he was happy. He's going to give me my allowance till I get out of school and get a job. He wants me to visit him again, just not all the time. And he wants to meet you." She giggled.

"Really? He wants to meet me?"

"Yeah he does. Now go to sleep."

"Only if you sleep over here with me."

"I don't know. It's awfully hot in here as it is."

"You want me to sleep don't you?"

"Yeah, you need your rest."

"Well I won't be able to sleep if you don't come keep me warm." Nyssa giggled. It was just like Vince to put a spin on the situation that he didn't want her over with him because he just liked her against his side. It was because he needed her for something.

"I see." She rolled over and put her head on his shoulder. He had never instigated contact like that before, so she figured she'd give in to his request. Normally they just ended up together over night. She thought that they might just be making progress here. She went to sleep with a smile on her face. Of course the fact that she wasn't getting up early the next day likely helped.


	17. So Tired of the Drama

Chapter 16 - So tired of the Drama

When she woke up the next day Vince was snoring away on his back and it was already 11 am. She stretched, enjoying waking up on her own schedule and then sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She walked out of the room and went to the bathroom. She wandered back to the bedroom and then though about whether she wanted to go back to bed or get dressed and take her 'stang down to Jesse. She figured it would need some work after sitting unused for two years. Her father's caretaker had started it every so often to keep the battery charged but other then that it had just sat, forlorn without her to take it for runs.

She realized it had to get inspected for emissions and safety as both had been allowed to lapse over the time she'd been away. Oh wait, she reminded herself. Dom does that too. Sweet. Decision on the morning made, she figured she'd let Vince sleep and haul her car down to the garage on her own.

She started rummaging for clothes. It was really time to do laundry. She pulled on a black thong and a pair of hipster blue jeans. She put on the matching black bra and then realized she had no clean tops. She opened Vince's drawer and stole a black mesh tank top out of it and pulled it on. It was baggy but the mesh was fine and you could just see her bra showing through. Just the right look she thought. But more daring then she ever would have dreamed before moving in with the team.

"Hey, is it nice to steal my clothes without asking?" Vince had watched her dress. She woke him up getting out of bed. She looked back at him, surprised to find him awake.

"No, but I need to do laundry or go shopping cause all my stuff is dirty. So I had to wear something."

"You can borrow a whole shirt you know. You don't need to go around with your underwear showing on my account." Vince scowled at her choice of attire, not liking the thoughts that other guys were getting to see things he wanted reserved for his eyes only.

"You're funny. I gotta take the 'stang down to the garage. It hasn't had an oil change or anything in about two years."

"You gotta be kidden me."

"Nope. I didn't know it was still there till I talked to daddy. So I'm taking her down to Jesse this morning. Then I'm doing laundry." She wrinkled her nose. She hated doing laundry. She hated laundry mats and folding clothes, and she really, for some reason she didn't ever understand hated change. She always went out of her way not to have any so she always had to go 'buy' some to use laundry mats. "You think Dom'd mind if I did my wash here instead of at a laundry mat?"

"Of course not, but wait a minute and I'll come to the garage with you."

"No way. You need to stay in bed and take it easy."

"I can take it easy while you drive. I'm going and if you don't let me go with you I'll just go in my own car. Only that means I need to drive myself."

"That's dirty." He gave her one of _those_ looks. "But fine, get ready."

Vince got dressed and they headed out. She got in the car and started it. Once Vince was in she put the top down. It was a beautiful sunny day. The garage was only about 5 minutes away from the house. But she didn't head right there.

"I thought you said you were going to the garage?"

"Yeah."

"Well the garage is the other way so where are we going?"

"I figured we'd go get some lunch first with Mia first." Nyssa replied as she turned her car into Toretto's café.

"Sounds like a good idea." Vince agreed as his stomach growled.

"Yeah, I don't know how you went all day without eating after listening to your team talk about how much you eat on any other given day. How is it you stay in shape?" Nyssa smirked as she gave him a head to toe glance. He was certainly not looking like he over ate.

"I find ways to work out." Vince answered with a smirk of his own, looking at Nyssa to see what her reaction would be.

"I bet. Let's get that lunch." Nyssa walked into the building and sat on a stool. "Hey Mia!"

"Hey Nyssa. How you livin?" Mia smiled and left her text book to lean on the counter in front of Nyssa.

"Good. But I'm hungry and Vince thinks since he didn't eat yesterday he might start to waste away."

Mia laughed.

"I'll make you some sandwiches. I know V likes the turkey, what would you like?"

"Ham if you have it."

"Yep."

Mia started the sandwiches and as she was finishing them up Brian arrived in the store's F150 Lightening. He sat down and ordered the tuna. Again.

Vince got a recalcitrant look on his face. Nyssa could tell he was thinking of starting something with Brian. She didn't know what they'd do to stop the two from killing each other. Nyssa and Mia both knew there was no way they could separate the two headstrong men. They'd have to call Dom and the other boys to come and help them and by then either Vince or Brian could be beaten to a pulp. Nyssa shared a look with Mia and it was clear she was just as worried about that situation.

Brian had held his own against Vince in the first fight the two had had and that had been when Vince had been a hundred percent. With his dominant right hand out of order Nyssa didn't know how well he'd fair against the smaller but equally pugnacious Brian.

Just as Vince turned to go at Brian Nyssa finished her sandwich.

"That was great Mia, thanks but we gotta go now. Don't we V, V, baby, hello? You in there?" She knocked on his head; he gave her the dirtiest look. "Dom's waiting for us after all." Nyssa put a hand on his arm and took his hand. Vince had yet to do anything more then look at her like she would have quite the set down coming her way over making him look weak in front of Brian just as soon as they were alone. "This looks much better already V. Would hate to see you pull a stitch out." Vince brought his other hand up behind her head and gently grabbed her ponytail and tipped her head back. He looked in her eyes and she knew he knew why she said that. He wasn't happy that she reminded him of his weakness, even if it was just a temporary one. He let go of her hair and she stood up and looked down at him. She leaned over and pressed her forehead against Vince's. "You ready Vince? We gotta go."

"Yea, I'm ready. Let's go see Dom." He stood up and with his arms locked under her butt picked her up so her forehead and his stayed pressed together. Just to prove he wasn't weak. She kissed him and he set her down, looking embarrassed to be kissed in front of Mia and Brian.

Just then Mia saw the red car. "Who owns the red Mustang?"

"I do." Nyssa stated. "My dad bought her for me on my 16th but my mom made me leave her behind when my dad went to jail and my mom decided she couldn't live with the fact that everything he ever bought us was likely bought with his 'dirty money'. I on the other hand couldn't care less so when I found out he never got anyone to sell the house and everything was just how we left it I went and go it. I don't want to always be taking V's car to school. He might get too attached to mine."

Brian couldn't help it. He asked her "You're still in school? Where do you go?"

"I go to Mission Street high."

"You're only in high school? How old are you?" Brian was worried she was underage and he knew Vince had to be 24 or so. If the girl was only 17 that would make for statutory rape against Vince. Brian wasn't sure he could just let that go.

"I'm 19, I know I should be done of school but I was held back the year my older brother died."

"Oh ok. Didn't want to be nosy but you seem way too mature to be a high school student."

"Thanks Brian. That's nice to hear. Well we really do have to jet. See you two later."

They got in the car and Vince bitched about Brian the whole way to the garage.

"You really need to get over it Vince. I mean, do you think that Brian's going to just go away because you don't like him? It won't change the fact that Mia likes him and Dom does too. Brian's here to stay."

"Over my dead body!" Vince growled.

"You might want to be careful what you say. I think I hear the thunder rollin in." Nyssa giggled.

"You mark my words. He's a cop." Vince sat back in his seat in a huff. "You'll all see someday and I'll be the one saying 'I told you so'."

"Ok Vince, say I believe you that he's a cop. What then? You've tried to convince Dom he is and Dom's not havin it. I guess I'm just sayin for the sanity of all concerned you're gonna have to let it go." Nyssa made her point but Vince just harrumphed.

They arrived at DT around 12pm and she just pulled the car into the open garage door. Jesse and Letty walked over.

"Where'd you get that?" Letty asked as Jesse popped the hood.

"It was mine from before so I went and got it." Nyssa answered them.

Dom came out of his office and looked Vince over. He was happy to note that Vince was looking more like his old self.

"Who's car?" Dom asked.

"Mine." Nyssa replied. "It's been sitting at my dad's house for the last two years so I imagine it needs some work."

"No doubt. Letty and Jess will take a look." Dom went to move back to his office.

"Yo Dom!" Vince called. "Buster's hangin around the store again."

"Jesus Vince, he likes Mia." Dom made his statement in a tone like he was addressing a three year old. "You need to let it go Vince. He isn't a damn cop."

"We'll see." Vince growled.

"Yeah well, I want you to leave him alone V. Mia likes him and it was time she got to go out with a guy she liked. She never gets any time for herself and we're going to let her have her fun with Brian. Got it?"

Vince only scowled in reply. Dom dragged him out of earshot of the rest of the crew.

"Vince, you gotta get over Mia and move on Man. You have Nyssa now. She's one down ass girl. She's gonna fit right in once you get her ready to race. Unless of course you don't want her to? Maybe you want her to stay domestic and take care of the house and you huh? But look at her and Letty. How close those two are already is scaring me. You know how Letty is normally slow to warm up to new people, but the two of them are great friends already and you know how they're already startin shit. Mia's my sister and you're my best friend V, the two of you were never gonna click."

"I am over Mia but damn Dawg, I put in the wrench time with Mia for 5 years and the fact that she fell for Spilner so quick is a blow you know? I'm not sure about me and Nyssa. I think I want her but I owe it to both of us to be sure this time. If she was a skank it would be different." Vince laughed. "Will you listen to me? When did I go soft? Why do I have to be sure? The old Vince wouldn't need to be sure. He would just take what he wanted. Even you still take what you want, if you get me."

"Ya and someday I'm gonna lose her over it. Be sure. I wanna stop doing that to her but it just never works out that way. Look at her Vince. She's my life and I'm gonna fuck that up and lose her over some skank I just couldn't say no to." Dom was looking at Letty, who was laughing with Nyssa over something Jesse said. The two dark beauties were watching Jesse drain the coolant. It was a slow day and he decided to just flush out everything. Dom continued. "Be sure you are ready for a relationship before you start one Man or you'll regret it. Listen to both of us, all deep an shit. Maybe we're both goin soft." They both laughed at that. Each was the only one the other could say this stuff to. They had been like brothers for so long that the sometimes felt able to drop the tough guy exteriors for a few minutes and talk about things they were not supposed to care about like feelings.

Jesse was telling Nyssa about all the stuff he could do to the car to make it faster. She laughed at his exuberance.

"Jesse this car has won awards for being perfectly stock and completely unmodified. It's not a race car. I like it the way it is." Jesse obviously didn't get it. She laughed at the look on his face; he was confused over why anyone would own a car that they didn't want to race. "Why do you think I need two race cars anyway? You all seem to think my Skyline is so great, what would I want with the Mustang to race too? I need a car I can just drive." Jesse just looked at her like she had two heads. Letty and Nyssa looked at each other and cracked up. Jesse went on with the car; he closed the rad stopcock and started to fill it back up. Letty was bent over the engine, they didn't see too many classic cars here, they mostly worked on neighbourhood cars and import race cars. Dom was known across the whole state and often people who had heard of him would drive miles to have him build their racing engines. Nyssa was also bent over the engine staring in at it intently.

Dom saw the devilish look on Vince's face and wondered what he was going to do. He started to sneak around behind Nyssa. He was going to grab her for sure. This was a side of Vince they had rarely seen, this playful, attentive side of him.

Nyssa and Letty were talking about the differences between import and domestic cars when Vince grabbed Nyssa and picked her up in the air. She screamed then laughed when she realized what had happened.

"Crazy boy, set me down." He did with a laugh. She was enjoying this side of Vince. Maybe he really was starting to care for her after all.

"Since they don't really need your help why don't we go home and take your Skyline out huh?" Nyssa agreed and followed Vince out of the garage.

She hadn't seen the skyline in days. She just hadn't looked for it. She was always driving Vince's car or the Mustang.

Letty gave them a lift back to the house. As they walked up to the Skyline Nyssa saw that the windows were all tinted out. She figured Vince must have gotten it done while she was at school one day.

"When did the windows get tinted?"

"The day I cut my hand. I wasn't really cutting wires I was cutting out the tint and the knife slipped. It was just one of those breakaway knives I found in the barn so I really have no idea where it was used before either."

"Well, thanks all the same. It looks great, really sharp. I like how you can't see inside it anymore. I think it'll make me happier driving it." The black tint complimented the dark purple color of the car perfectly.

She was much more comfortable with the car in every sense now then she had been. Soon he was going to have to take two cars and start her doing mock races. She could shift now and drive on the streets in traffic well. Not perfect and not totally confident but she was doing much better now. They just drove around for about an hour and then headed to see how the mustang was doing. Jesse had it all done and sitting out front. He was talking to some girl. She had brought her MX-6 down because it was making some sort of noise in the engine and Jesse was looking it over for her. Nyssa thought they made a cute couple. She could never believe Jesse was older then she was. He seemed so young. He was so smart with engines and cars. She hoped that girl was nice.

They all went home around 5pm and Nyssa helped Mia cook supper. She told Vince to go sit down for awhile because he looked tired. They ate then Nyssa went to call her cousin and see what she missed. Manda gave her the rundown of what she had missed in class that day and then asked where she had been. Nyssa filled her in on the Vince situation and told her she had to stay home to take care of him. Nyssa hung up soon after and then went downstairs to do her homework. She normally would have done it with Mia but Mia and Brian had gone to a movie. She had a lot to catch up on after just one missed day so she got a start at it.

Vince went to bed at 12 and when he entered his room Nyssa was asleep on her tummy, face in a book, still wearing all her clothes. She had obviously fallen asleep while doing her homework. She was such a hard worker. He wouldn't have cared that he missed stuff and worried about getting caught up, he would have just asked the next day what he had missed. He smiled down at her; she made quite a sight asleep on her text book. He almost called the guys in to see then decided he wanted to save the sight for himself. Vince packed all her stuff into her backpack and then picked her up. He held her up while he turned the covers back and then set her down on the bed. He undressed her and pulled her favorite night dress down over her head and turned out the light. He didn't want to think of her being uncomfortable in her clothes all night. Plus she had taken care of him when he needed it. He wondered what was wrong with him. Was he going soft for real? After all, why did he care? It was a question he would have to answer soon. He set the alarm and went to be himself.

The next day was Thursday. Nyssa woke up early since she went to bed early. She wondered how she got into her nightdress and into bed. She didn't remember getting changed. Last thing she remembered she was working on math. Oh well. She got up and got dressed and headed out. She took the skyline and headed by Manda's. She picked up her cousin, who had only seen the car once before when Danny drove it. Manda was impressed. They went to school and other then explaining her absence to all her teachers she had an uneventful day.

She got home and ran into Dom in the driveway. She asked him what was up. He told her not much, no one was home; they were all working at DT because it got incredibly busy that day. She told him that was fine because she had a ton of work to get caught up on. Dom headed back to the garage and Nyssa went in the house. She was working at the kitchen table when Mia got home from University. They studied for awhile together then they fixed dinner. They knew the guys would be hungry when they got home. They made spaghetti and garlic bread and salad. They just set the table when the guys came in the back door, rowdy and loud as ever.

Vince grabbed Nyssa and spun her around.

"So you took the Skyline on your own today eh?"

"Yep."

"How'd that go?"

"Fine, good really. I like the fact that no one can see in anymore. Thanks for doing that for me."

"No problem. What did you ladies make for supper, it smells good."

"Food, you guys go clean up a bit then we can eat."

The guys all went and did that then they sat down and ate. After dinner they all watched some TV. They were going to races that night so everyone was just chillen for awhile before they went to get ready.

Around 9 Nyssa went to get ready. She went and showered and straightened her hair. She went back to the bedroom and put on some tunes. She did her makeup and tried to pick out an outfit. She didn't have to drive so she could wear whatever she wanted. She never knew what to wear to races because she always knew she would have to walk the fine line between looking good and looking like a slut. She picked a pair of black flair bottom pants with rhinestones on the seams on the outsides. She paired it with a silver tube top. She stood back and looked at herself. She guessed she'd do. She was about to leave when Vince walked into the room.

He looked a Nyssa and then looked again.

"That what you're wearin tonight?" For some reason he wasn't thrilled about the idea. The sliver top set off her dark skin and her hair was framing her whole upper body in long silken waves.

"Yeah, it is. Why?"

"Just curious." He mumbled and started looking for some clean clothes for himself. He pulled off his dirty tee shirt and before the temptation could become too much Nyssa switched off the stereo and headed upstairs. She ran into the girls and asked Mia and Letty if there was anything wrong with her outfit.

"No girl, it's fine." Mia answered, happy to have another girl who cared how she looked around.

"You're lookin good." Letty reassured Nyssa. Letty thought Nyssa was a little dressed up for her taste but she still looked good.

"Well good. I think I wanna take the Skyline to races tonight just for the hell of it. If what everyone says is right it's gonna make quite the splash."

"Yeah it will but you better ask Vince first." Mia replied, looking a bit concerned. "You never know what he has planned and I hate to see how he gets when he's in a mood."

"Yeah, but it's not good to let him think he runs the whole show, he won't be fit to live with." Letty added.

"Well, you know, it's my car." Nyssa didn't really care what he thought of it to be honest. She thought maybe she should ask Dominic. Vince came up the stairs just then and saw the girls talking. It never boded well for him when Letty and Nyssa got to talking. He walked up to them and asked what was up.

"I'm thinking about taking the Skyline down tonight." Nyssa answered, looking at Vince out of the corner of her eye.

"Well if you want to we'll take it instead of my car tonight, but I don't want you driving any car on your own yet."

She was doing well with the car and was kind of annoyed at this answer. "Why can't I just take my own car?" Her upset he didn't think she was doing as well as she thought she was coloured her answer.

"I just don't think you're comfortable enough with the car to get away from the cops on your own if you had to. If they chased you specifically do you think you could get away?" Vince knew she was upset with him and he didn't want to piss her off worse. He wasn't trying to hurt her feelings, he just wanted to keep her safe.

"I guess not." Nyssa had to admit he had a point so she decided she'd let it go. "We'll both ride in my car but I'm driving on the way down."

"That's cool." Vince agreed.

They headed down to the alley. They all pulled in and Dom was again swarmed by skanks. Letty surprisingly walked over to where Nyssa and Mia were standing and turned her back on the scene.


	18. Busted!

Chapter 16 - Busted!

"Letty, what's up with you?" Mia wanted to know why Letty was leaving Dom in the clutches of the skanks. It was incredibly out of character for the Latina woman.

"Well, if he'd rather flirt with skanks then be with me that's his problem. He needs to get over it and me yelling at him over it's clearly not helping. So I'm going to see what ignoring him does. It's like he only wants me to get pissed and fight with him anyways."

"Good plan, see how this works. Couldn't be much worse right?" Nyssa elbowed Letty and they laughed. Nyssa cranked the tunes in her car and she and Letty started to grove a little to the music. The song she had queued up was a techno track called Phat Bass. Nyssa and Letty drug Mia into it and the three of them got into it. They didn't notice the crowd they attracted.

Dom and Vince noticed the crowd of people around where they parked and headed over. They saw the girls dancing, and watched as other people, including guys, joined in. Vince shook his head, it never failed to amaze him how that girl started trouble, and since it was her stereo on blast he'd bet money this had been her idea. Of course Letty was dancing with some guy who had joined in and Dom looked ready to start throwing punches. They fought their way through the crowd and cut in on the guys who were dancing with their girls.

"It's time to turn that shit off. Dom's ready to race." Vince said as he shoved the punk who'd been dancing with Nyssa away from her. She turned it off and a chorus of awe's went up from the group. They had wanted to dance. But they dispersed now that the music was off and Dom and Vince were around.

Dom called the race and it went off smoothly. Dom won. Nothing new there. Too bad there was no one to give him a run for his money. He called another race since the cops hadn't been called yet.

"You could always take my car and give it a shot." Nyssa told Vince as they stood around waiting for three people to step to Dom's challenge. He was having trouble getting three after the solid beating he'd delivered to the last three. Vince seemed to think about her offer for a moment.

"You know, that's not a bad idea. I been driving your car enough to know how it runs now and it's been a while since I got a chance to run." Vince took Nyssa's keys and headed off toward where Dom was standing. "Hey, count me in Brotha."

"You? You wanna race?"

"Yeah, I wanna race. That an issue?"

"Hell yeah it's an issue. I don't wanna race you. We don't race each other on this team V. You know that."

"Well you stand back and let me go this time then. You race all the time and I can't hardly remember the last time I did. I want in." Vince showed no sign of backing down, despite the death glares Dom was shooting him.

"I'm not backing out. You'll have to race me." Dom relented on condition, hoping Vince wouldn't step to the challenge. He was destined to be disappointed.

"I thought I was gonna be up against you when I told you I wanted it. Bring it."

"I will take your money, family or no." Dom retorted with a smirk.

"Goes the same this way Brotha. Line that thing up."

Each man handed Hector their money and moved their cars to the line.

The girls took Letty's car and parked at the start line. Letty and Mia stood next to the Silvia talking to some people they knew while Nyssa walked up to the open window of her car. "Good luck. Go get 'em." She told Vince when she reached the side of the car.

"Thanks."

She patted his shoulder and moved to walk away. Vince grabbed her wrist and turned her back around. She looked at him questioningly, head cocked to one side. He tugged her down and she leaned slightly in the window, unable to stop herself due to his strenght. He kissed her hard. "That's what I really needed for luck sweetness. See ya in the winners circle." She leaned in the window and changed the song on the stereo.

"No, this is what you need for luck." She pulled up one of her favorite songs on the radio and walked away, back to where Mia and Letty were waiting for her.

Vince pulled the car up to the line level with the other three men. They all got ready to race, turning on nitrous valves and checking over gauges.

Mia and Nyssa couldn't decide who they thought would win. Letty thought it would be Dom because it was always Dom. Mia and Nyssa weren't so sure.

Leon announced it was go time when he got a 187 on the scanner and Hector dropped his arms upon getting the confirmation. It became immediately clear that the two unknown men in the race might as well have just handed in their cash and saved their spray because they fell off the pace almost immediately. It became clear the race was going to be all about the purple Nissan and red Mazda. The two cars were racing neck and neck.

Dom had a lot more experience in street racing, given the many races he was always offered and his king of the streets reputation. Vince had the frustration of knowing that he was regarded as the big dumb guy who did what he was told and towed the team line. Both were driving cars that could pile on the speed and not let up. The fact was driven home by the infuriating dance they were perpetrating. One would gain a fraction and then the other would counter and pass by the same small distance. The give and take pattern continued for the first 7 seconds of race. It was most unusual for a race involving Dominic Toretto to come down to the wire as it was clear this one would.

Vince and Dom had both already used nitrous; they were still neck and neck. Vince wondered, could he get off a third charge? Would it ruin Nyssa's car? Either he tried it or he accepted a tie with Dom. He knew it wouldn't be a full shot so he figured it should be fine. He went for it, knowing that with Dom's system after two shots it was pretty well empty. Mostly one shot was plenty for Dom to use. Vince hit the red button on the wheel once again and got just enough of an edge to beat Dom. He did wonder how he was going to get the car slowed down from 160 without the brakes fading out on him.

He got it slowed down enough and pulled a U turn by locking up the parking brake. He headed back to where the whole crowd was cheering.

The crowd couldn't get over what a race they'd just seen. No one could remember the last time they'd seen anyone beat Dom. It just didn't happen. That was what kept everyone trying to beat him. They all wanted to be the first one to manage. Now someone had. What would it mean to their king?

Mia was looking at Dom like she expected him to freak out and do something crazy. She wasn't sure how her brother would take his loss. Letty was secretly glad, hoping maybe Dom would gain some humility, seeing that he was no superman and he could be beaten. Nyssa was cheering in the middle of a crowd of other people who were also cheering. No one but Nyssa was quite sure what they were cheering for. Was it for the spectacular race or because someone had finally shown Dom what it was like to finish second.

Vince got out of the car and walked up to Nyssa. The other people in the crowd parted out of his way but Nyssa stood her ground. She ended up in a clearing by herself, watching Vince approach her position.

"Way to go cowboy. I knew you could do it."

Vince picked her up by the waist and swung her around. "Thanks for letting me use your car."

"I just hope some day I can drive it the way you just did."

"You will."

"Cops, we got cops, go. Go. Go." Leon shouted. Vince and Nyssa jumped in the Skyline, Vince drove. They ran and got out of the district so fast the cops never saw them on the scene. They got out so fast they were the first ones home. Vince put the money he'd won in his room and Nyssa sat down in the living room, not knowing if there would be a big party or not. Leon showed up next, then Mia who had jumped in Jesse's car. Then Dom showed up. Everyone wondered where Letty was. The phone rang and Nyssa grabbed it.

"Toretto's"

"Nyssa, its Letty. I got caught by the cops. I'm down at the station on Parkwood. Could you or one of the guys come and get me? I need money to pay my fine too. It is in my room under the bed in a box. I know that is not a great place but bring a couple hundred bucks whoever comes ok?"

"Sure Lett, I'll come right now girl, be there in about 20 minutes k?"

"Sure. Thanks a lot Nyssa."

"No problem."

She hung up and turned to the team, "I gotta go get Letty from the police station. She has to pay a fine and they're keeping her car overnight."

"I'll go get her." Dom said and turned to leave.

"No Dom, you better let me go for her, I'll take Mia with me." Nyssa stated.

"She's my girl, I'll go get her."

"Ok Dom, smart idea. After all the cops are bound to believe you when you tell them your girlfriend went racing without you this evening. Plus your car is hot and the spray is all used up. They have enough to question you too. They have nothing on me."

"Your spray is used up too, and your car is also in obviously just been raced shape so I don't see how it matters who goes and gets her."

"I can take the Mustang and it's not even a race car. Just the two Toretto girls getting the third, nothing funny 'bout that. Dom Toretto picking up his girlfriend at the police station after she got picked up for street racing not smart." Dom relented and Mia and Nyssa went upstairs and grabbed the money. They headed for the front door. Vince stopped them.

"Remember Nyssa, you were home all night, you and Mia have school tomorrow so you were studying or somethin. Tell them we all stayed home just in case Letty told them that they had it all wrong she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time or something."

"We'll do fine Vince. See you soon." The two girls left and headed down to the police station Letty had named. They walked in and Nyssa walked up to the desk jockey du jour. "We're here to get Letty Lopez please."

"Who are you two? Are you a relation of hers?"

"Yeah, we're her cousins. Can you get her now? I understand she's only being held pending the payment of her fine."

"Well, that depends. Where were you ladies all evening?"

"Home studying, we both have school tomorrow, so we'd like to get Letty and go home. We need to get up early in the morning."

"What kind of car did you drive here in?"

Nyssa knew he had no right to question them in this manner but she didn't know if he could turn around and keep Letty over night if he felt like it so while she wanted to tell him to go to hell she bit her tongue.

"My '67 Mustang vert. It's red. You should be able to see it right out the front door as a matter of fact." Nyssa said on a sigh. The desk sergeant looked and did see the car sitting at the curb. He frowned and Nyssa caught his frustration. "So can you get Letty now or is there some other event that has to happen first?"

"You ladies sure you were home all evening?" The cop asked. The fact he didn't believe them was written all over his face. They both nodded yes.

"What about Toretto and his band of thugs? They home all evening too?" The cop looked at them both. Nyssa answered without hesitating, she hoped she knew Letty as well as she thought she did.

"Yes we were all home. You must have picked up Letty while she went for a drive. She was the only one that left the house all evening. Mia and I were studying while the guys watched a flick." Nyssa was getting pissed off at this guy's attitude. "Listen, can you go get Letty now. I have the money to pay her fine, a fine that she no doubt doesn't even deserve, and that was the only term that was conditional of her release. So either you go get her or I call my lawyer."

"Oh I'm scared now." The officer scoffed at Nyssa. "You gonna call your lawyer. Like people like you have more then legal aid."

"Well really people like me keep Kevin Elliot on retainer and you must know he is far from legal aid." He was her daddy's lawyer and he was good. He had defended many celebrities and notorious people on much more serious charges then street racing and got them off without issue.

The cop knew who the girl was talking about and he couldn't keep her friend he knew. He relented and went and got Letty out of the holding cell. They paid the fine and all climbed into the mustang.

"Girl, that story you told the barrel assed donut muncher was perfect!" Letty crowed from the back seat of the Mustang as the girls headed home. "It fit right in with what I told him and I loved the part about the lawyer. Is he the real deal?"

"Yeah, he's dad's lawyer. He's pretty good too. If I'd had to call him and that cop wasn't holding you legit he woulda been in a lotta trouble."

"I hate cops." Mia said with feeling. "Just walking into that place gave me the willies."

"Why you hate cops for? You're miss goodie two shoes!" Nyssa said with a giggle.

"Yeah, but my brother sure isn't. I've seen enough cops at the door to make me not like them much. Not to mention the results to Dom's backside a few times after the cops brought him home to dad." Mia wrinkled her nose and all three girls laughed at the image of Dom being taken over his father's knee.

They arrived home to just the guys, no party.

"Where is everybody?" Letty asked as they walked into the house."

"I just wasn't in the mood to listen to all that bullshit." Dom said from his place on the couch. Letty nodded her understanding.

"Shit, you shoulda seen this chica." Letty started to tell the story of Nyssa and the cops. "Dude almost shit his pants when she dropped the fancy lawyers name." Letty finished.

"You know Dom wanted to be the one to go get you Letty, but we wouldn't let him." Nyssa pointed out. Dom looked up at Nyssa in appreciation.

He really did appreciate her letting Letty know he was concerned over her.

Letty looked at Dom and she could tell that he really had been worried and had really wanted to be the one to retrieve her. But she wasn't above having a little fun at his expense. "So it's not that he's lazy, he wanted to come get me eh? Well what stopped him?" Letty wanted to know.

"Nyssa thought he'd end up in with you so she made him stay home." Vince figured Letty would believe him, and she did.

Dom and Letty went to bed and the rest of the team unwound a little with some Grand Theft Auto, which always relaxed them. Nyssa fell asleep with her head in Vince's lap while he played the video games.

He was planning on buying her something nice for letting him use her car but he didn't know what to buy a girl one thought one liked that wasn't too serious a gift, but at the same time was not insipid. While he was thinking about that Leon won the game against Jesse and yelled his pleasure. Nyssa came to with a start.

"I'm gonna head to bed. I don't care if it's only two am and I don't have any reason to get up tomorrow. I'm tired out." She got up and headed for the stairs to the basement. Vince watched her go and took the controller from Jesse, deciding to stay up for at leat one more game. After he beat Leon into oblivion on the game he also got up and headed to bed, joining the already sleeping Nyssa in bed.


	19. Learning to Race

Chapter 18 - Learning to Race.

Nyssa woke up the next day with Vince still snoring away beside her. Normally he was gone for the day if she slept in. He took off to do god only knew what most days. Nyssa didn't know and thought it better if she didn't ask. She didn't want to have any information if she was ever questioned on it by an outside party. She didn't know what he did on the days when he didn't show up at the garage but she did know he disappeared for hours at time. He sure was up to something, likely something illegal but Nyssa didn't care. She just told herself when it had counted he'd done the right thing by her and that was all that mattered. She was finally free, mostly thanks to him

Nyssa finally decided to get up and got dressed quietly before sneaking out of the room, leaving Vince asleep and went looking for Letty. The girls had had a conversation about Nyssa's race training the other day. Nyssa had wanted someone to help her get better at it so she could surprise Vince with her skill since he still didn't think she practised enough or wanted to win bad enough. Letty had agreed to help her out. She wanted to see the look on ol' Coyote's face when Nyssa was suddenly a great racer.

It had helped that Letty had hated every minute of Dom teaching her to race, so she wasn't about to send Nyssa there looking for the help she wanted. She had also known how to drive already when Dom taught her to race. The only reason she got good at it had been because she had to, just to rub Dom's nose in it. She could hold her own in a race with any of the guys at this stage of her life. She was looking forward to having another chick around who could race as well as she did. She loved Mia like a sister but the girl had no interest in racing and sometimes Letty just felt like Mia didn't get her at all. She knew she had found a kindred spirit in Nyssa. At least when it came to racing. Nyssa was still too girlie for her own good.

When Nyssa reached the kitchen Letty was already at the table having some orange juice.

"Mornin'." Nyssa yawned as she helped herself to the Tropicana.

"Yeah." Letty grunted, never a morning person.

"Oh, this is going to be fun isn't it? You trying to teach me to do something I'm not great at doing in that mood."

"I'll be fine once I get on the road, don't sweat it. Mornings are not my forte."

"Really? I love mornings."

"Somehow I'm not surprised. You'd kinda half to, waking up next to _that_ every day."

"Could say the same to you." Nyssa retorted as she leaned on the counter with her juice. Both girls shared a look and then cracked up laughing.

"You ready to do this thing or not?"

"Hell yeah, let's go!"

They headed out into the midmorning sun and got into their cars. They headed off to a little race track Letty knew they'd be welcome to use if nothing else was going on. It was a little track Leon had introduced her to but once she'd started going regularly she'd become a favourite among the staff. When they arrived they found themselves lucky as nothing else was going on at the track.

They took to the blacktop oval and started to practice.

Nyssa stopped the car and got out for the 10th time since they'd arrived and started doing practice runs.

"Jesus Letty, I just don't know what I'm doing wrong. You say you're going easy on me but I can't come close to you. How can I ever race if I can't even beat my friend who's trying to let me win?"

"Nyssa, you can't just race like a machine, you know?" Letty paused and pulled a face, thinking how to phrase what she wanted to say. "It's not a skill you can learn from a text book. Not really. You can learn the how's and why's that way but not the spirit of the whole thing. You need a motivation. You need to put your heart into it. You need to feel the adrenaline in your blood."

"I _am_ trying Letty but I mean, damn it, I thought I was faster then I am right now. I _am_ faster when I'm just doing drills then I am when you and I race. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm trying just as hard as I do when I'm not racing anybody but I'm not moving as fast."

"That's what's wrong girl. You're treating racing me like it's just another run. Like beating me is a skill you could have gotten in a text book. I know Vince is a capable teacher but maybe he neglected to tell you one fundamental thing about racing."

"What's that?"

"It has to be a sport of passion. You need to feel it in your soul. You're going to be racing guys with years more experience, talent, and the will to win above anything else. Worse when it's against you because you're a girl. You need to find that drive in your heart and soul or you may as well give up now. If you don't have the will to win then you can be the best technical racer in the world and you will never win races. Because the guy beside you who taught himself wants to win so bad he can taste it and he is actually sexually turned on over the rush. When I race, especially a guy, I want to beat him because I know he is looking at me thinking I have no idea what I am doing and some guy built my car for me. I want to show them the error of snap judgements."

"I do want to win, but I just can't see you in that kind of light that I want to cream you. You're one of my best friends."

"Ok," Letty sighed and blew some loose hair off her forehead in frustration, "let's look at this from another angle. You are racing exactly the way Vince taught you Right? Shifting when he taught you, nitrous when he taught you and so on right?"

"Well yeah," Nyssa paused in confusion, "isn't that right?"

"Yes and no. Technically yes, I'm sure he taught you the right things, the right times to do stuff, but on the other hand you have to learn to do stuff when it feels right to you. You have to have a feel for it. You have to feel it, like on instinct. Listen to me. I bet you never knew there was anything this deep about me huh? Letty the racer has feelings."

"Well, I knew that Lett but I still don't really know what you mean about feel it."

"Well think of the car as a man. From this point forward your car is a he not a she ok."

"Um..Ok..." Nyssa looked up in surprise, embarrassment tingeing her cheeks a faint pink. She had a funny feeling anything that came after being told her car was a he was going to be interesting.

"Now when you are with a man, you know, _with_ him," Letty winked, "do you go by what some book told you to do? Did a friend teach you how do what you do with a man? Do you have a manual for how you do what you do with Vince? No you just go by the feelings, let your feelings tell you what to do right?"

"No, I have no manual but I wish I did. I don't do what you think I do with Vince. We never reached that point yet. But I think I see what you mean now."

"Hold up, you and Vince have never done it? Ever?" Letty raised an eyebrow and waited for the answer, hands on her hips.

"Um..No.." The faint pink in Nyssa's cheeks was now bright red flags of colour.

"Well that's your problem, his too, neither of you are getting' any. Just jump his bones and you'll race better. Learn to handle your man in bed, learn to race him on the streets and win." Letty looked like she had just cured cancer, she was that smug and happy with herself.

"No I really get it now. I don't have to rush out and have sex to get it. You finally got through to me. I need to lose myself in the moment, into the car, become one with the car as it were, visualize myself winning and want that so bad nothing else matters. Want it so bad it doesn't matter if I am racing you or Dom or Johnny Tran. I have to want to win above all else as long as I am behind the wheel of the car. That's the passion, that's the feeling. And as long as I just drive the car I can't win. I have to let the fact that I wanna win and be the best be the only thing that matters when I race.

"Now you get it. See? But you still need to get on Vince, You don't know what you're missing out on."

"Well I'm not a virgin you know." Nyssa protested hotly, her lack of experience making her embarrassed. "But I only did it once before, just because everyone was. It hurt like hell, it was terrible, no fun, and me and the guy broke up almost right after." Nyssa pulled a face at her lie. "Well, since we _are_ being all deep and shit, we didn't break up. He was only with me cause he and his friends had a bet about if he could get me to give it up to him or not. I was overweight and shy and they made a bet over whether I would have sex with Doug just because a he was cute and he asked me out. But like I said, it just seemed like all my friends were doin it, and he was cute. Then after it was too late I found out about the bet. Since then I haven't had any interest. Well, 'til Vince, but I don't want to rush things."

"Girl, trust me. You wouldn't be rushing things, the boy is half in love with you already, he's just notoriously thick skulled. The sooner you give him some the sooner it will dawn on him how important you are to him. Men are ruled by their dicks. Learn to live with it, and accept it. Because when you understand the nature of a thing, you know what it's capable of."

Both women laughed at that. Nyssa and Letty climbed back into their cars and decided to do one more run. Letty was still going easy on Nyssa but she thought that perhaps the time for going easy on her was over. Nyssa won. Letty was pleased. She had finally gotten through to Nyssa. Helped her find her edge. Now she could race. She still had a long way to go really, to be able to race people who wanted to beat her but she was well on her way with her new found motivation. Nyssa seemed almost too laid back by times. She had to find her inner bitch. And Letty thought with a laugh, she was just the girl to help her with that. They headed home after Nyssa had managed to almost beat Letty again when Letty wasn't trying to let her.

Vince was gone when they got back and he never showed for dinner. Nyssa was starting to get worried about him by the time the supper dishes were washed and put away. It just wasn't like him to miss a meal. She did all her homework and there was still no sign of him. It was 9:30 already when she checked the clock.

_Man where the hell is he?_ She mused to herself. She had to have some idea. She went looking for Leon. She thought Dom was more likely to know Vince's whereabouts but she just wasn't comfortable with Dom like she was with Leon and Jesse. She found Leon in front of the PS2. She wondered where else she figured she had been going to find him.

"Hey Leon."

"Hey chick. What's up?"

"Just wondering where Vince is. You got any idea?"

"No idea. Haven't seen him all day." Leon answered but his focus on his game was just a little too intense and Nyssa knew he was keeping something from her.

"Leon, come on. I know you know where he is. I'm not asking for details here. I just wanna know if he planned to be gone this long and if he's likely ok where ever he is."

"He's fine. I don't know if he planned on taking this long but I know he's fine. Hell, call him on his cell if you want to. He won't care." _How'd she do that?_ Leon asked himself as he realized he had just admitted he knew where Vince was despite knowing just a second ago he'd decided not to say anything. Nyssa could be some kind of scary when she wanted something. He rationalized his lapse by telling himself it was only fair she knew that Vince was ok if she was really as worried as she sounded.

"I'm not gonna call him. It's not like I'm checking up on him or somethin'. He can come and go whenever he wants. It's just fine with me." Nyssa started to walk away and Leon would swear as she walked off he heard her mumbling about 'why would he want to do something like leave me a note or tell someone to tell me he was going to be gone a flippin day.'

Vince was really in for it whenever he did get back, Leon figured, not looking forward to hearing the fight echo through the downstairs rooms at some god awfully early hour of the morning.

Nyssa was still fuming to herself as she stomped into the kitchen up from the basement. She was looking for Letty and found her in the living room. Nyssa threw herself down on the couch with her friend and sighed.

"Something up?" Letty asked.

"No." Nyssa growled back and sighed again.

"Really? Doesn't sound like nothing."

"It's just," Nyssa looked at Letty, anger evident. "Vince. He's gone to god knows where and he didn't bother to tell me when he'd be back. I don't know if it's normal he's been gone all this time or not since he didn't bother to inform me of anything. Heaven forbid he just told me when I might expect him back so I don't worry about it all night."

"Tell me about it. But it's just how guys are. Nothing much to do about it other then deal or yell at them all the fuckin time."

"So what, you just don't care when Dom does shit like this?" Nyssa asked incredulously.

"Hell no, it's not that I don't care. I care. I just can't yell at him every time he does something inconsiderate. I'd spend my whole life yelling at him. I have my ways of getting back at him but I don't use yelling anymore."

"What do you do then?"

"I don't talk to him until I get an explanation that satisfies what I need to know. And if the silent treatment doesn't work in a reasonable amount of time the withholding of bedroom activities begins." Letty chuckled at the shocked look on Nyssa's face. "I guess that won't help _you_ much, but it works for me."

"Letty!"

"Ok, ok. Girl, it'll work out. Just don't forgive him too fast."

The front door started to open and both of them looked over to see who it was.


	20. Take the Skyline

AN: Hey all. Here's another rewritten chapter. It seems better than the original to me, but hey, what'd I know? Thanks for the reviews. Ringles, um, not sure what to make of yours but thanks anyways, I guess. Was there some mistake I made with chapter two? I'm not a big fan of riddles, so if something was wrong with it feel free to point it out.

Chapter 19 - Take the Skyline

Vince let himself in the house and the guys said hey. He answered them back absently as his gaze scanned the rest of the room. They settled on Letty and Nyssa talking together on the couch in the far back corner of the room. With their two dark heads bent together and intense looks on their faces he knew they were talking about something serious for sure. Something bound to make his life harder. They both looked up at him as he moved farther into the room, then both dismissed him with glares and went back to whatever talk had made their eyes flash fire his way. Vince had a funny feeling he was in trouble, bringing a sinking feeling to his gut. He was also very curious to know just what Nyssa would do about her anger.

As he stood waiting beside the couch holding the weight of Leon and Dominic he decided she wasn't likely planning to do anything. At least nothing right away if her plan was overt. She never looked up at him again, merely continued her chat with Letty. With a small shrug he decided to try and prod her into reacting. He sauntered over to them.

"So, how was your day?" He asked conversationally.

"It was fine." She didn't take her gaze off Letty and her posture and demeanour gave off the message of 'dismissed' clearly.

She was clearly planning to be frosty to him rather than fight it out with him, yelling and making a scene. Deciding that anything else he might do to try and raise a reaction out of her would be overkill, he walked away and sat down with the guys. They all played with the PS2, cat calling opponents and hollering their encouragement to those they were rooting for. Half an hour went by when Vince thought to look at the girls again. They were still talking.

"You know you can't stop acting mad at him until he tells you what you wanna know, right?"

"I'm not just acting mad! I am mad."

"Good. Keep being mad until you get your explanation. Otherwise he'll always think he can get away with murder."

"I'll keep that in mind. I just don't know if he's going to think me being mad at him is enough of a reason to explain himself to me."

"Told you, you shoulda been giving it up to him all along." Letty smirked.

Nyssa smacked her friend on the arm. "Letty." She drew her friend's name out in reproach.

"I'm just sayin'."

"I'm just going to bed." Nyssa said as she stood up and stretched. "See you in the morning."

"Night." Letty answered and watched her friend walk into the kitchen.

Vince watched out of the corner of his eye as Nyssa left her position with Letty and headed to the kitchen, presumably to go to bed. Vince gave her a five minute head start and then followed her down the stairs. He wanted to have the fight before Leon and Jesse decided to go to bed themselves.

When he opened the door of his room he found Nyssa seated in front of the mirror, brushing out her hair for the night. Because it was so long, curly and thick it was always an adventure for her to brush it. She was normally careful how she brushed it because she didn't want to break the strands or hurt herself. Tonight such care had been abandoned. She was ripping the brush through her curls. Vince watched as she winced for the fourth time since he'd started watching her. Deciding the time to have it out was now or never Vince crossed the room and took the hairbrush out of her hands.

"So you gonna yell at me or what?"

"I hadn't planed on it. Why would I yell at you Vince?"

"Cause I didn't tell you I was going to be gone all day and night and you likely worried."

"You don't need to tell me what you do with your time V. You're a big boy. Why would I care if you take off?"

Vince sighed. It was going about as well as he'd thought it would. He decided that instead of fighting about it he'd simply admit that he knew he should have left her a message or phoned her. "I should have told you I was going to be gone awhile. I know you worried and I know you're pissed at me. I'll tell you when I expect to be home next time."

"That's fine Vince. It makes no difference; I don't want to control your life. Come and go as you please." She looked at him in the mirror, her eyes flashing fire.

God she was stubborn. She wasn't showing any signs of giving him an inch. He was trying to get away without doing what he was now going to have to do. Outright apologise. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you where I went and when I would be home alright?"

With sigh she barely contained Nyssa was appeased. An actual apology was what she had been waiting for, but she'd been to the point of figuring he was never going to break down and give her one.

"I really don't care were you go Vince. It's none of my business. But an idea when you think you'll be home would be nice. I did worry. You never took off all day before."

"Deal. From now on if I'll be gone like I was today, I'll make sure you know."

She nodded, a small smile on her face.

Vince realized he still had her hair brush. He turned her back around in her seat and started to brush her hair for her. He started at the bottom of her long, black-red hair, picking out the snarls a bit at a time so as to not hurt her. Before too long he was able to stroke the brush from the crown of her head to the ends. She clearly liked it, she occasionally made a small, contented noise in her throat.

He watched her in the mirror while he finished brushing her hair. She had her head thrown back, exposing the long caramel column of her throat, the v of her robe, and her pretty face to his eyes in the mirror. He looked down at her face, those intriguing, too smart eyes closed in her pleasure, saving him from the scrutiny. She always looked at him like she knew him.

The real him, not the Vince that people thought they knew. The team knew the real him and up till Nyssa they were the only ones. And even then he could often hid the real way he felt from the team. But not from Nyssa. Everyone else in the free world thought he was just big dumb Vince, Dom's friend. Mostly he liked it like that. No one wanted to mess with him, and when people didn't expect too much from you it was hard to let them down.

With Nyssa, he thought, it was hey that's Dom, Vince's friend. It was nice to come first. Sometimes it hurt to have people think he was dumb all the time. He knew he should drop the act. But it was how he survived for so many years. But Nyssa saw through all his crap. There was something to that. With one last stroke of the brush he finished getting all the tangles out of her hair and tied it back with one of her elastics, the way he'd seen her do so many times.

When she felt the weight of her ponytail against her back she opened her eyes and sat back up straight on her chair. Her eyes sought his in the mirror and to Vince it felt unnervingly like she was looking right into his soul. He felt like he could see right to hers as well, and he liked what he saw. She wasn't mad at him when he didn't come home because she wanted to micromanage his time and life. She was mad because she worried about him, knew he was doing dangerous things and didn't like it.

In that moment Vince was sure about one thing. Nyssa was the girl he wanted right now. The future had a way of figuring itself out and he was through denying himself the pleasure of having Nyssa in his life as his girl. The mere thought of her with some other man, sitting in someone else's room, worrying about some other guy when he didn't come home, filled him with rage. The thought of Mia with Brian no longer did, but if he thought of Nyssa with Leon, or even some random guy from her school he wanted to lay a beating on whoever it was he was thinking of at the time. That level of jealousy out of someone like him, who rarely got jealous at all had to mean something.

Decision made, he leaned over her and kissed her neck. She leaned back against his chest and closed her eyes again, not only allowing his attentions but encouraging them.

Nyssa felt the subtle changes in the way Vince was treating her. He had never been anything but sweet, but he always held a part of himself back from her and she knew it. There had always been a limit to how deep he was willing to let her in. There wasn't now. He had finally let it go. With that knowledge came the knowledge that something in her world was about to fundamentally change. Things were never going to be the same again. Whether the change would be for the best or not was something only time could tell. Something in her heart told her it would all work out in the end, but she didn't know how far she could really trust that little voice inside.

All she knew was she cared for Vince. She worried about how he put himself at risk, even though she only sensed he did so. There had been no talk of how they would go on, how things would change, but that was something which would just have to be played by ear because she wanted this, wanted these changes in their relationship. She had for some time but it had to be his decision. She knew that. She knew trying to force anything on Vince was a mission doomed for failure before it even began. But tonight, it seemed like he had finally made his decision.

Her musings were cut short as he picked her bodily up off her chair. She giggled as he swung her up into his arms with such ease it set her in awe of his strength.

He tossed her down onto the bed and chuckled as she bounced with a laugh. Any thoughts of laughter left his mind as she reclined on her elbows and watched him standing beside the bed with her robe starting to come undone. With a quick movement devoid of self consciousness, only filled with purpose he pulled his shirt off over his head and crawled into the bed with a growl.

He leaned down and claimed her mouth again. While she wasn't paying his hands any mind he started to untie the sash on her robe.

Once she realized what he was doing Nyssa helped him along, already having made the decision this time nature could take its course between them. It was more than time.

With a groan for how stupid certain parts of his anatomy figured he was being Vince stopped himself from taking the step that would carry them past the point of no return. He had to know she was sure he was what she wanted before they went to far to turn back. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

Touched by the fact he was concerned for her wants, and also sensing the question was more about wanting him in soul more than in body she nodded yes. "I'm sure."

She still didn't look totally sure to Vince. "Really? You're sure?"

"I'm sure. It's just that it's been a while since I was with anybody like this and it wasn't the best time of my life then. It was three years or so ago and there hasn't been anyone since." For some reason, despite the fact her admission embarrassed her like she knew it would, she wanted him to know.

Floored by the fact she trusted him so much, and cared about him enough to want to sleep with him when it was clearly something she didn't do with just anybody Vince couldn't keep the smile that curved the corners of his mouth up slightly off his face. "Well, let's see if we can improve your opinion of the experience shall we?"

Nyssa watched with fascination as his face moved toward hers again

Some time later as she lay cradled in the sleeping Vince's arms Nyssa mused she had to give it to Vince; she may just have remembered that even if she was drunk. She decided to tell him that at some point, but for now she was so sleepy all she wanted to do was savour the warmth and safety of his embrace and sleep. So she did, smiling as she drifted off. Vince too had felt so content, better then he had in a long time that he had also fallen asleep with a smile on his face.

Even though she had woken up sharing a bed with Vince for the past chunk of her life, everything felt different the next morning. She knew she should have anticipated that but she hadn't. She came to full consciousness with a yawn and rolled onto her elbow to look at Vince. Finding him still deeply asleep she simply watched him awhile. He looked so different while he was sleeping, so much softer and younger. Almost innocent. She abolished her self for the clichéd thought even as she smiled at herself over it. Didn't every bad romance novel ever written have a flowery scene where one of the love interests watched the other sleep and mused at their innocence? Nyssa decided it was written into those books simply because it was quite true.

At no other time, in no other sense did Vince ever look soft or innocent. In sleep his hair fell onto his forehead and the cynical lines his ever ready scowl brought to his eyes and forehead were erased by his relaxation. It took years off his face. The blankets were tangled around his waist, revealing the tanned expanse of his flat stomach and wide shoulders, as well as the colourful artwork wrapping around one well defined bicep and shoulder. There was something to be said for a man with beautiful tattoos, Nyssa thought as she studied the jewel tones of the dragon on Vince's arm. She'd never thought herself one to find tattoos sexy but she'd been wrong.

As her eyes moved up to his face she found the ghost of a grin still on his face. Was it thoughts of her that had kept the smile on his face all night? She certainly hoped so. As thought he felt her eyes on his face he woke up, his blue eyes opening sleepily about half way as he looked up at her. His smile grew, becoming a grin in short order.

"'Mornin'." He said with a smile in that gravely morning voice of his, she loved how he sounded before he had his coffee.

"Hey." She said back. She smiled back and turned bright red. She had never had sex with a guy and then woke up in his bed. The only other time she had been that intimate with a boy she had to sneak home lest her dad catch her staying out all night, guess why and kill the guy. Now she was all grown up but it was still strange. She wondered if it was strange for him or if there had been so many mornings after that it was routine to him.

"You ok?" Vince asked, concern creeping into his face for a moment when it took her a second to get her thoughts together and formulate an answer.

"Couldn't be much better. You?"

"I 'm awesome." He pulled her down for his kiss. After the kiss he smiled at her with a look that might be wonder on his face. She wondered what that was about then caught a look at the clock.

"Oh shit, it's already 12pm. God damn it, I meant to set the alarm." Nyssa jumped out of bed and headed to the dresser. She was so focused on getting dressed she forgot she had just paraded across the room naked.

"What's up?"

"I gotta meet Manda at her house in a half hour and it's almost that far away and I'm not even dressed yet."

"Call her and tell her you'll be late and come back to bed." Vince said.

Nyssa groaned. With that bad boy smirk on his face, tousled hair, and sheet fallen down to the lowest point it could fall and not reveal the 'full Monty' it was very hard not to do as he asked. "I can't, they're having a party for her mom's birthday and Manda and I have to drive there together. I have to pick her up right at 12:30 or we'll be late. Much as your idea sounds so much better than an afternoon of Manda's snotty mother and her side of that family. Oh man. I gotta get dressed. What'm I going to wear?"

"Oh, I see, not the kind of thing you can just get out of huh?" She shook her head no to answer his question. With a shrug Vince answered her question, even though he figured it had mostly been rhetorical. "Wear your little blue leather skirt with the silver dragon on it and the black shirt with the dragon on it, plus your boots that go up to your knees."

Nyssa thought about those items paired together. He wasn't half bad at picking out outfits, although it was more skin than she knew it was smart to show around her hated aunt. "When did you become an authority on women's clothes?"

"I just know what I like to see you in. And I have a thing for dragons." He glanced at his dragon tattoo.

As she somehow managed not to admit she also had a thing for dragons, both on him and off, Nyssa started to pull on the outfit Vince had picked out. She wore it so her thong straps would show on her hips, knowing that she was decently dressed but for that and that her look all put together would annoy the hell out of Manda's mom, who she hated.

"What car should I drive? Should I take the Skyline just to piss them off? When they see that thing it'll give them all heart failure. Or I could take your car and let them wonder what kind of guy I hooked up with that he has a nice, family car with tens of thousands of dollars worth of mods and nitrous to boot?" She had let Vince put a decal package on her car so it would fit in better with the team and now it had a rampant dragon on either side. Vince designed it for her. He was a bit of an artist as well as a guitar player. But the skyline would match her outfit. Vince came to the same conclusion and told her,

"Take the Skyline for sure."

"I thought so too. See you later baby, I'll come back as soon as I can." She leaned over and kissed him. She remembered what she had wanted to tell him and decided now was the best time when she could escape and he would have to dress before he could follow her up through the house. "Oh, and I just wanted you to know, after last night, I'm sorry that I laughed when you told me I would remember no matter how drunk I was. I know now that I would have." With that she ran out the door and up the stairs, laughing the whole way.

Vince groaned. She was always doing stuff like that. Telling him something he would want to hear then running away when he couldn't chase her. If he did right now someone would get a view of more than they wanted to see because he would be running through the house naked. Just like she had no doubt counted on.

One thing Nyssa didn't seem to know but was going to learn in the most delicious ways, he decided in that moment, was that paybacks could really be a bitch.


	21. Big Kid

Chapter 20 – Big Kid

Nyssa got to Manda's on time, though just barely and she had to exceed the speed limit severely to manage it. Manda came out of her house at Nyssa's beep and went around to the 'wrong' side to enter the vehicle. Once her cousin was safely buckled in, Nyssa put the car in drive and they headed off.

Manda glanced over at her cousin. One glance wasn't enough. She did a double take and looked some more. Nyssa's outfit, never mind the choice of car she had made, were all likely to start trouble.

"You looking to give my folks a heart attack or something? What were you thinking dressing like that and taking this car around my mother?"

"I woke up late and was in a rush right from the get go. I'm wearing what Vince picked out for me and where he comes from I'm well covered up, as you well know. This was the only car I'm allowed to drive not blocked into the driveway. Vince was in front of me and the Mustang was in front of the Maxima."

"Well, I'm just saying. You know better than to dress like that around my mom, even if Vince doesn't know better than to let you. There's gonna be some fireworks when she gets a load of you."

"Nothing we can do about it now," Nyssa shrugged. "It's too late to go home and change now."

As if to prove her point, she signalled her turn and pulled into the parking lot of the park where the party was being held. Nyssa was looking forward to seeing her uncle John. He was always good to her. In that respect he reminded her a lot of her father. As Manda had suspected, the car made it impossible to make a quiet entry. From the shininess of the paint, to the brilliant purple colour, to the loudness of the aftermarket exhaust it wasn't a car designed for going incognito.

Once John realized who was getting out of the car he rushed over to his niece and daughter. The first thing he did was grab Nyssa in a tight hug. It had been some time since he had seen her or spoken to her. After he had satisfied himself she was in one piece and seemingly healthy the lecture started.

"I just don't know what you were thinking! If you had it so bad with your stepfather you should have left at the first sign of trouble and ran to me. You didn't have to wait until you had nowhere to go and run away with some stranger."

"I know that, but things weren't that bad with Ed, if I was careful to stay out of his way. It was just that one night that I didn't come home that set him off. If I had known what he was going to do that night before he did it I never would have went near the place again."

They started walking toward the party area, Nyssa under her uncle's arm. "Besides, I went to see daddy and everything's going to be ok now. He made sure I had money so I wouldn't need to get a job and so I could finish school."

"I was talking to your father the other day. He mentioned this Vince character you're staying with. Who is he exactly?"

That was a good question, Nyssa mused. She didn't know that much about him in actual fact. She only knew the limited amount he'd told her about his past and role in Dom's team. The rest of what she thought she knew about him she had only surmised in her own heart, it wasn't fact at all. So how did she sum up Vince in a PG-13 manner for her uncle? "Well, he's a bit older than me. He's a mechanic and works in his buddy Dominic's shop. They've been best friends since third grade and Vince was brought up by Dom's dad after he turned twelve or so."

"How'd you meet him?"

"We ran into each other at a car show after I got separated from my friends I went there with," Nyssa said.

John gave her a look that clearly told her he wasn't buying her story for a minute. "You sure you don't mean you met him at the street races after your cousin talked you into going?" Catching her guilty look, John continued. "Yeah, I know you girls think I don't know what you get up to when you leave the house dressed like you do to go with those guys with the flashy cars, but I do. So, I'll ask you again. Did you meet this Vince at a street race?"

"Yes, but please don't tell daddy! He'd just worry for no reason."

"I won't tell him, for now. But I really don't want to find out you're racing Nys. It's not safe."

"Ok uncle John, I'll be careful I promise." Nyssa was careful not to say she wouldn't race. She didn't like to lie, especially not to family. John nodded to her and released her. They had reached the head table of family. Seated at the foot of the table sat Nyssa's aunt Karen.

Karen took in the clothes her niece was wearing and sneered. Nyssa didn't miss the look. Her aunt had never cared for her. It wasn't something Nyssa had ever understood. She hadn't ever been what anyone would consider a bad girl until she had met Vince and through him Letty. She hadn't really ever given her aunt a reason to dislike her. Other than the fact her father made better money than her uncle John. But John was still loaded, so if the small difference between the two brother's financial situations made a big difference to her, she was crazy. Of course, Nyssa was fairly sure she might just be crazy anyway. Karen finally ended their staring match.

"Well Nyssandre, that's quite the outfit you have on."

"Thanks Karen," Nyssa chose to ignore the sarcastic, rude overtone of the comment. "Happy birthday, by the way."

"Thank you dear," said the ice queen.

Man that woman got on Nyssa's nerves. Of course since she was now truly flustered and slightly upset, her uncle picked that moment to bring up the vehicle she had arrived in. "I thought that Manda was picking you up Nys. Mark didn't tell me you got a car again. I thought ever since you sold Danny's you were taking the bus or riding with your cousin. So where did the purple beast come from?"

"It was Danny's race car uncle John. I never really sold it. You like it?"

"Well it sure is different. I didn't think it was allowed to drive on the roads."

"Really? I didn't know that. Vince seems to think its fine and one of the guys, Leon, has one too, but I will look into that. I have my mustang at home but it was blocked in the driveway by all four of the guy's cars so I couldn't take it."

"That is not a car for a young lady to drive Nyssandre! And what do you mean all four of the guy's cars?" Karen didn't want her daughter to get any ideas.

Nyssa hated it when her snotty aunt insisted on using her full name. "Really Karen? But it matches my outfit so perfectly. I would have thought you would appreciate that. And I mean that Dom, Leon, Jesse and Vince were all parked in the driveway behind my Mustang," Nyssa clarified.

Karen huffed and Manda drug her cousin off to mingle with other people closer to their own age before her cousin and mother got into a real fight.

As soon as the girls were out of earshot Karen showed she wasn't ready to let the subject drop as easily as Nyssa was willing to write it off. "Well John, really! I don't know if I approve of Manda being around Nyssandre at this point. The girl is nothing but a bad influence. And we both know what that car is for. It looks just like the ones you see racing all over the city at night. And those people she lives with must be criminals. She's living with thugs and racing in the streets in a souped up car like white trash. This Vince character sounds shady."

"Now Karen, Nyssa is not a bad influence on anyone. She goes to school and does well even after all she has been through. She sure came into a new style of dress, but that's not so bad. She didn't have much of her teenage years to just be a kid. We can't judge the people she lives with 'til we meet them and besides that there are two other young ladies that live there and one of them is in UCLA. She helps Nyssa study. As far as the car goes I know that Danny raced it on the track so you_ are_ likely right about the street racing. I will have a talk about that with her and Mark. Have some patience with her Karen; her dad will be out of jail in 2 years or less."

"Well I don't want Manda to get any ideas about going to street races. They are nothing but gatherings of hooligans who do drugs and race cars on the street for crying out loud John. You better deal with your niece. You're the only person around who can deal with her with her dad in jail. I mean imagine how this would affect us around the club if people found out your niece lived in some slum with a houseful of slackers. Think of our position in the community and your daughter, who will need a good reputation to get into a good college in a few months."

"Karen," John sighed angrily, annoyed at his wife for her inability to drop the topic. "For the last time, her roommates are likely very nice, the man who owns the house also owns a garage and a convenience store and he has given Nyssa a summer job with him. I think she looks happier now than she has in years and I am not taking that from her. We'll keep an eye on her. And I will speak to my brother about the street racing issue. Manda and her cousin are best friends and if anything I think Manda has been the only influence on Nyssa. Nyssa certainly has come out of her shell since her and Manda became close again."

"You better talk to her John," Karen warned.

John gave his wife one of the looks that clearly said time to be quiet. She took the hint.

Manda and Nyssa were talking on the way over to a group of family their own age. Nyssa filled Manda in on the new developments in her relationship with Vince on the way over to the group of teenagers.

Manda couldn't believe her strait laced, 'butter wouldn't melt in my mouth' cousin was sleeping and living with a gun toting thug. But Nyssa was happy which was nice, nice to see her happy for the first time since her brother died. And nice to see she could fall for a guy after what that jerk Doug had done to her. But Manda still felt her cousin could do better than Vince. She could not get the thought that he was just a stupid thug out of her mind. Of course Nyssa had never even introduced them. Which when she thought about it made sense considering that they all thought she had been trying to pick up the involved owner of the house. Manda shook her head. She could be so stupid by times. She just chocked it up to her blonde hair, but it was more than slightly embarrassing to know the whole team knew she had a crush on Dom. A crush he would never return, despite the fact that she knew she was a very pretty girl and many other guys would have been proud to know she wanted them.

But her crush on Dominic Toretto was in the past. She had to let Nyssa know she was past it and get introduced to Nyssa's new friends so that she could make sure that they were good to her cousin. Nyssa didn't deserve any more heartache in her life. She had already dealt with the share of ten people. Plus when Nyssa was on top of the racing world she didn't want her to forget her cousin. When Nyssa hit the top of this ride there were going to be hot, rich, single guys everywhere and Manda wanted to be her cousin's pretty, sexy sidekick. More so than some grease monkey thug.

They reached the pack of girls their own age and started talking to their assorted relatives. Most of them were cousins and related only to Manda through her mother, but a few were related to both girls. For the first time in her life, Nyssa didn't have a feeling of being out of place and not belonging. Normally being surrounded by a group of pretty blonde Mandas would have shattered her self confidence and she would have been the shy, quiet wallflower standing by herself. But today she joined in the conversation right at Manda's side.

She knew she owed a lot of her new confidence and outlook on life to Vince. She had only found it after being accepted by him and his friends just based on who she was. Not how rich her dad was or what their social standing was, and not because she was seen as some unobtainable goal by some idiot jerk. They liked her for being herself and because if a group of people like them liked her for who she was, she figured she must be an alright, cool person in her own right.

Both girls talked to their cousins for about an hour, just catching up. Manda and Nyssa made up the youngest pair in the group at almost twenty for Nyssa and almost nineteen for Manda. There was some talk amongst the girls of going out to a night club for a girls night on the town. It became evident that Manda and Nyssa weren't going to get to go because they weren't legal and knew they would get carded and embarrassed if they tried to get in.

"Fun as it sounds to head out together, I don't have any ID to get into a club," Nyssa admitted reluctantly. Manda nodded her agreement with a pained look on her face.

"That's no problem. This is Los Angeles. Do you know how easy it is to get fake ID around this city? It's convincing too. I'll hook the two of you up and we'll hit a hot spot soon."

Nyssa was strangely comfortable with the idea of getting a fake ID made for her. She also knew that Manda would have no moral qualms on the subject. Especially if it meant getting into a bar where there would be hot drunk guys.

That was around the time a call went up that dinner was ready. All the girls went to eat, Nyssa fixing her skirt to decently hide her under-things as she went. She put on her best behaviour over dinner. All her relatives and those of her hated aunt would never have known she wasn't raised going to 'the club' and finishing school if they hadn't already known better. Most proved open-minded and no one but Karen held her father's present circumstances or her own against her.

She was witty and funny. Sparkling. Everyone seemed to warm up to her. Only Karen continued to give her the cold shoulder, and even she toned it back some. She knew she would look mean and harsh if she didn't, and Nyssa knew that was the only reason she started to pull some of her barbs. She managed to enjoy herself far more than she had ever figured she would have in the present company. After dinner and desert Nyssa checked her watch and saw it was six pm. When she realized how long she had been at the party, she also realized that she had had quite enough.

"Manda, I'm gonna head for home. You want a ride now, or are you going to hang out and catch a ride with your dad?"

Manda thought for a moment. "I think I'll wait on mom and dad. I'll catch you later."

"Ok, later."

Nyssa found her uncle and said good-bye to him with a hug and kiss for her cheek. She walked up to the Skyline and got in. The spirit of the forgotten bad girl inside her woke up with a growl that wanted to be heard. With a laugh she spun the rear tires on the gravel parking lot before tearing off with a squeal. She knew she had likely just stirred up some shit for herself, but she just didn't care. It felt too good to break free of the whole oppressive scene and go back to being the person that had managed to make Vince and Letty like her as a friend. That girl was the real her now and she had no problems with this fact.

She still arrived home with a splitting headache from trying so hard to be nice. She decided to believe it was because Letty had rubbed off on her more then she realized. She wanted nothing more than to go back and tell the whole lot of them to go to hell, just like Letty would have, she figured. She didn't like to stand back a bit from the situation and realize she had tried to change her stripes for them, even if it was just for one afternoon. She walked in the front door and threw her bag down on the floor with a harsh thump. Letty was in the living room playing on the PS2. Nyssa threw herself down on the couch beside her with a sigh and tipped her head back, closing her eyes in fatique.

"Vince told us where you went. It went that well, huh?"

"You don't know the half of it. You know in the short amount of time I've lived here I've changed into a totally different person. My whole family short of my dad and uncle are so full of crap I just spent the last 4 hours wanting to tell every last one of them to go to hell and I wouldn't let myself. The new me wanted to so bad though. The old me wouldn't even have thought that way. So that's progress I guess."

"What are they like that made you so mad?"

"Well, my aunt Karen started as soon as I got out of the car about the car, my outfit, my life, where I live, who I live with, who I chose to date. You name it she bitched about it Lett. My god, when I start to race, if they find out, you know they might just tell Manda she can't see me anymore at this rate. Karen is just the bitch to do it too. I like my cousin. I know you guys don't really but she _is_ a nice girl, if a bit materialistic and self centered."

"It would suck if you couldn't see her anymore. She's your friend too not just your cousin but you know I don't like any girls who try to get with Dom even though they know I exist."

"I know. And we had a talk about that, Manda and I. I told her it wasn't well done of her to go after a guy with a girl already, and that everyone knew, it wasn't a secret. She thought it was. I guess she told the wrong person that she liked him. She never meant for it to get out and back to you. I mean that's nothing new anyway. Half the girls at races have a thing for Dom, you already knew that Letty. And when I told her that other people knew she was embarrassed. She said she knew that nothing would ever come of it and she didn't want to mess with you." Both girls laughed at that.

"Well I _am_ glad to hear there is one less girl I have to worry about Dom cheating on me with."

"How many times did you really catch him at it though Lett?"

"Enough," Letty answered wearily.

"Well once is enough, but I thought maybe it was mostly just he went missing and then you assumed he was cheating again."

"No I've caught him at it enough. More than enough, trust me."

"Ok, that doesn't change the fact that the Manda issue is settled. Have you caught him lately?

"No, not lately."

"Well maybe he's making an effort not to. I've seen how he looks at you. He loves you. Man, I have a splitting headache."

Vince walked into the living room from the kitchen and heard the last part only, that the Manda issue was over, _thank god_, and that his poor Nyssa had a splitting headache. Poor thing. Well he knew just what was good for headaches didn't he?

She was sitting on the couch, head thrown back and eyes closed. He put a finger to his lips to warn Letty to stay quiet and then he leaned over and kissed her. She felt the soft brush of lips against hers and the tickle of his beard on her forehead because of the position they were in. She gave into his kiss with a happy sigh. Finally, she was home where she belonged.

When she gave herself over to his touch so thouroghly, he picked her up over the back of the couch and carried her downstairs, leaving Letty to her own devices in the living room.

Letty thought about what Nyssa had said. Maybe she would do her pat and not accuse Dom of anything anymore and try to make it easy for him not to stray. She knew she started shit sometimes. It was just hard to know what he had done and then see him talking to other girls with that smile on his face. That bad boy, flirting smile she thought he should reserve only for her. She knew he thought he had ot put on a tough guy act at races just to show he was the crowd leader. But he didn't have to take the act as far as he did. But if she tried not to hold what he had done in the past against him, tried to be more aware of his feelings, perhaps he would return the favour and try to be more aware of hers.

Nyssa was nibbling on Vince's neck as he carried her down the stairs and he was growling at her for it. Until he finished the trip to his room he was helpless to stop her and they both knew it. They spent the next hour in his room, helping her get over her headache.

That night Mia and Brian went to see a movie and Nyssa and Letty played video games with Leon and Jesse because Vince was off doing god knows what again and Dom was in the garage fixing some car for some guy who had to have it done by the next morning and was willing to pay. Dom was in one of his moods again and none of the other guys had been willing to risk their lives or eardrums to go and assist him.

Vince had done as he had promised and told Nyssa he would be gone awhile and had no idea when he would return this time at lease and since she wasn't trying to run his life she didn't say anything. She was more than a little curious about what he was up to but she didn't say anything or pose the questions. She didn't want to ask him in case it seemed to him like she was trying to get further into his life than he wanted to let her. She figured he would tell her when he was good and ready. Until then she would just worry at home like a good little girl. It galled her, but with a man like Vince she knew there was a limit to how far she could push before he would push back. Unless she was ready and willing to have a knock down, drag out fight with him, that wasn't something she could just do. All she knew was his gun was gone with him.

Nyssa and Letty both left the guys around 1am and headed to bed. Neither Vince nor Dom had gotten home by that time. Nyssa was glad she and Letty, and Mia were friends. It was nice having good girlfriends close by. It made the worry a lot easier to bear, knowing that Letty and Mia had the same fears when the guys did things without them. Things they didn't understand and knew were dangerous.

Vince came home at 2am and dragged his tired ass right downstairs, took a shower and then went to bed. If he had thought Nyssa would wait up for him he was sadly mistaken. She was out like a light in the middle of his bed on her back. Her hair was fanned out around her head for a change, instead of caught up in a ball at the back. He changed then tried to figure how to make room for himself in the bed with her right smack dab in the middle in a sprawl worthy of any man. Well he figured there was no way around it, he was going to have to pick her up and move her off to one side. He slid his arm under her knees and back and lifted her up.

"Um, V is that you?" she asked in that sleepy voice he loved so much as she came to.

"Who else were you expecting?" he asked with a laugh as he kissed her forehead, cradling her against his chest.

"Vin Diesel," she giggled after naming one of the movie stars that her girlfriends at school went crazy over, "but I wasn't expecting you to wake me up in the middle of the night either."

"You were asleep in the center of the bed with your arms and legs and hair everywhere. It was move you or sleep on the couch. That ain't happenin," he said when she gave him a look that said she thought that's what he should have done rather than wake her. He set her down and slid in with her. "So how was your evening?"

"Fine," she yawned. "Letty and I beat the shit out of Jesse and Leon on the play station and went for a drive around in the Skyline." Well, really she and Letty had done more practise runs. She beat Letty one time out of 5 but she didn't know if that was because Letty let her or if she really was getting better.

"You letting Letty teach you to drive? I guess I need to make more time for you girl, I don't want anyone else to teach you to drive." It was an activity he enjoyed too much. It also gave him the perfect excuse to spend time with her without looking needy, clingy or less manly.

"No, I just wanted the company while I went for a drive. Oh, and Vince I have no school tomorrow, so don't bother waking me ok? It is some sort of parent teacher thing and since I have no parent I just get the day off."

"I could go as the only adult in your life at this time."

Nyssa laughed at that one. "You're not much of an adult, you big kid. You spend your days working on and driving in race cars. You're about as much an adult as rock stars and pro athletes."

"I'll show you how adult I am," he said just before he leaned down and kissed her. It was much later before she fell asleep again. She didn't much care since she wasn't getting up early the next day. Not that she would have anyway. She would gladly go without sleep to feel the way Vince made her feel. With a contented sigh and Vince's arm around her waist from where he was lying behind her she drifted off. She got up around 10 and decided to hang out at DT with Letty and the guys for awhile since she was going to be working there soon enough anyway. So on that thought she drove to DT, leaving Vince snoring on his back.


	22. Ready to Race

Chapter 21 - Ready to Race

When Nyssa got to the garage Letty hauled her over to her bay, and had put her to work helping her fix a car which was in for repair. As she fixed the issues, Letty started to teach Nyssa the basics of automobile repair. They were talking softly as they worked about a multitude of topics. They were never short of things to chat about.

Near the office door, Dominic and Mia were fighting about what Mia should do with some work orders and other invoices. In typical male fashion, Dom didn't really want to deal with making the decision right away or on the spot. Not when he had 'actual' work he could be doing under a hood, getting his hands dirty.

"What about parts and service?"

Dom shook his head. "Hold off on that!"

"But Dom, I don't know what to do with this!" Mia complained. She sighed as her brother turned his back on her. She wouldn't mind turning over the office work for the garage to Nyssa. Not in the least.

Leon and Jesse were working on a car together on the other side of the room, listening to music at a very high decibel level together as they did so.

Nyssa looked up and realized the time. It was about five minutes to eleven. She assumed Vince was still at home in bed where she had left him. That was, he was still in bed for about the next five minutes. She had set the alarm before she left to go off at eleven and wake him up. She chuckled to herself over her deviousness. It was about time someone else got woken up early when they wanted to sleep in, and didn't have any pressing reasons to get up either.

Just as she turned back to the engine bay of the vehicle Letty was still slaving over, a flat bed tow truck pulled up to the back bay doors with a very wrecked, rough car on it. They all walked over to the door and Brian came up beside the truck.

"What the hell is this? Whatdya got there?" Dom asked, wondering what the hell Brian wanted to do with the junk pile on the truck.

"This is your car!" Brian said with a flourish toward the junk pile pretending to be a race car.

"My car?" Dom asked with a laugh. He shook his head no. "I said a 10 second car, not a 10 minute car."

Jesse hit the fender of the blackened car. "You could push this across the finish line or tow it," he laughed.

"You couldn't tow that across the finish line," Dom said, also chuckling, Letty and Nyssa were also cracking up leaning against the back of the black car they had been working on.

"No faith," Brian said, looking hurt.

"Oh I have faith in you but this isn't a junk yard, it's a garage."

"Pop the hood." Brian looked like he was going to save the situation yet. Mia looked on indulgently at him. She was clearly falling for him.

"Pop the hood?" Dom asked with an incredulous look on his face.

"Pop the hood," Brian said with a gesture toward the front of the car.

They unloaded the car from the hook and into the shop. It seemed it was staying now whether Dom wanted it or not.

Jesse pried the hood off the wreck. "2JZ engine, no shit."

"See, what'd I tell you?"

Dom was visibly impressed. "I retract my previous statement."

Jesse went on to tell them that after a lot of work the car could beat anything, decimate all.

"Put the parts on my tab at Harry's."

"Yes!" Jesse rushed off for a pad and pen to start making a list of what he would need to order. Dom turned to Brian.

"I gotta get you racing again so I can make some money off your ass. When you're not working down at Harry's you'll be working here on your car. If you can't find the right tools in this garage, Mr. Arizona, than you got no business being around a car."

Nyssa and Letty shared a look. Vince was not going to like it when he found out that Dom had given Brian an official reason to be around the team all the time. Just as Letty and Nyssa were about to start discussing it Dominic seemed to remember Nyssa's presence. He turned to look at her.

"And if you want to be a permanent fixture around the place you better work your butt off and be ready to race at wars too. You need to get racing, you've been practising how to drive long enough. Take someone and go do mock races or something. I want you ready for wars. Consider it an audition to the team for both of you."

Nyssa and Brian shared a look. Mia looked at Brian. "He owns you now." Brian gave her a look like that of a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming 18 wheeler. Mia wasn't sure how she felt about the whole situation. She liked Brian a great deal, but she had a rule against dating Dom's friends, which Brian most certainly now was. There was no help for it, she was going to have to make an exception for Brian. She turned to Nyssa. "You know he's not kidding right? You really better be ready for race wars." Mia looked over at Dominic, who was now bent over a customer's open engine bay.

"Don't worry 'bout it Mia. Letty and I are all over it but you can't tell anyone. I don't want Vince or Dom to know but Letty and I have been doing mock races and I beat her once. I'll be ready."

"Good. I don't want you stuck as the sandwich girl you know. He likes you so it's not like he would kick you out but he seems to think you can race so he _would_ be disappointed if you didn't make it."

"Well, so would I Mia, I wanna race not make drinks and sandwiches for the rest of my days."

"Good," Mia said and turned to go back to the office. That was until she saw who was walking in the still open bay door, shooting fiery looks at Brian. "Oh no," she groaned. "Here comes trouble," she said as she watched Vince stalk into the shadowy interior of the shop.

Sure enough Vince was walking up to the garage, looking so fine if Nyssa did say so, and eyeing up Brian with a look that said he was hanging out for a fight.

"Oh man, what is he? A fighting fool? He just can't wait to try to fight Brian again. I sure hope he isn't right about Brian though. He's so sure there's more to him than what we know." Even though she figured a lot of it just stemmed from the fact Vince simply liked to fight, and saw Brian as a fitting target who deserved something of a beating, she also knew he was positive there was more to Brian than what the blond man had willingly shared. She had a nagging feeling he was right, but it wasn't her place to make Mia and Dominic see.

"Well, I like Brian, we're going out tomorrow tonight and if Vince hurts him than I'm going to have to hurt Vince. I will _not_ be happy."

"Well then girl, we need a plan right now to keep the two of 'em apart or very close to Dominic."

"Why don't you take your man and go do some races?" Letty offered.

"Good idea," Nyssa agreed. She ran up to Vince. "Morning Baby. You have a good night sleep?"

Vince's whole demeanour softened while he talked to Nyssa, he was not all tense and ready for a fight while he looked at the girl. The whole garage saw it. "'Til the alarm that someone was nice enough to set went off." He smiled down at her to take the sting of the sarcasm out of his words. "You have anything to do with that?"

"Of course. I wanted you up and down here so that we could get some lunch. But now there's an even better reason why. Dom laid down the law. I have to be ready to race at wars or I am going to be a sandwich monkey not a racer. So we need to practise all the time. Good thing school's over in two weeks."

Vince picked then to notice the new car. Or rather the new car wreck which was sitting in one corner of the shop. He nodded to show he had heard and acknowledged Nyssa's statement before asking, "What the hell is that?"

"That is Brian's ten minute car." She laughed and Brian turned red under the scrutiny. "That is the car Brian will be driving at race wars after he fixes it up. Dom also said that Brian has to work here when he is not at Harry's and fix it up so it's ready for the desert. Race wars is going to be both of our auditions as it were for the team."

"Oh hell no. He's not letting that fucker on the team?"

"I guess he is if Brian does well at race wars. Come on Vince, who cares? Take me to practise. Or don't you want me on the team either?"

"Of course I want you on the team but not him. I just hate him Nyssa. My hand is all better. Please let me hit him, please?" His question was accompanied by a very hopeful look.

Nyssa sighed over his continuing bad attitude. "Do you like pissing off Dom and Mia for some reason?"

"No," Vince said as his eyebrows drew together in puzzlement. "Why?"

"Cause the way you act is doing just that. I mean, no one says you have to like him, but you have to stop with the tough guy act all the time with him. Just have a live and let live attitude with him." Nyssa gestured toward Dominic with a sweeping motion of her arm. "Dom is smart. If Brian isn't trustworthy Dom will figure it out on his own. Just give it time and keep reminding Dom not to tell him anything. I mean, I know you guys are up to something but I don't want you to tell me what you know. Remind Dom to keep an eye on Brian and that if he starts asking questions than think about what they are and why he would want to know. That sort of thing."

"I know he's up to something," Vince growled

"Fine Vince, but you can't prove it yet and all you do when you try to fight him all the time is make Dom mad and make me look bad."

"How does this make you look bad?" Vince turned to look down at her with a shake of his head. How did she figure?

"Because it looks like you're still fighting for Mia even though you have another girl. I mean do you want me to look like some poor substitute for Mia?"

"No," Vince retorted with a shake of his head. "That's not the point."

"I know that and you know that but everyone else around doesn't."

He surrendered to her logic. "I guess I see that."

"Good. Let's go race each other for practise. I think my car can take yours."

"It could but you're not half the driver you'd need to be to beat me yet," Vince smirked.

"Let's go and we'll see," Nyssa answered with a smug shrug.

Vince was unable to resist her challenge, so they headed to the track. They played cat and mouse on the freeway and Vince was impressed with how she handled the car on the road. She had come a long way since she had been afraid to drive between home and school. It seemed that Nyssa had found her inner racer chick.

Vince watched her as she drove, darting in and out of the other cars on the road with wild abandon.

When she had realized what it was like to race there could be no stopping her. She was good, she knew Letty was impressed with her at least. She hoped Vince would be too. She knew she still had a way to go, but she was head and shoulders over where she had started from.

"You sure you're ready to really take someone else on? You don't want to just practise some more?" Vince asked as they pulled up to the line at the track.

"I'm sure. I'm ready to go, so let's do this thing!"

They got back into their cars and moved to the line. Nyssa turned off her stereo. She found that she raced better if she wasn't distracted by the words and music of songs. She liked to be tuned into nothing but the sound of her car. The sound of the roaring engine and the slap of the flying tires on the tarmac. She liked to feel like she was one with the car and for that she had to be able to hear every nuance of the engine.

Vince buckled up his harness, getting ready to do something he didn't really like to do. Go easy on someone. He was far too competitive to like the idea of taking it easy on anyone. Even on his own chick. But he couldn't cream her and he knew it. It was all about building her confidence, not stripping it away by blowing her doors off.

Nyssa had a fair idea even though she had told Vince to go ahead and bring it on, he had no intention of doing so. She got herself into race mode and waited for Vince to decide to start them off. With a chuckle she realized Letty was right. She did feel better able to handle racing her man since she'd found out she could certainly handle him in the bedroom. And she had raced better too, ever since she had learned what it was like to really _want_ something with everything you were.

The light went green and she feathered her clutch off, streaking off the line nicely.

_What the fuck_? Vince asked himself as he fought against his shock and launched his car in a hurry in an attempt to catch up. Where the hell had Nyssa learned to launch like that? She certainly hadn't been that good at it the last time they had mock raced. Now that the shock was wearing off he was recovering his equilibrium and starting to catch up to her flashing round tail lights. She ultimately had too much of a head start. He couldn't quite get in front of her and she ended up beating him by a nose.

Both of them got their cars stopped and got out, meeting in between the two parked vehicles.

"Where the hell did you learn to do that?" Vince asked her.

"Letty and I have been practising while you've been gone so often. She helped me find my edge."

"I see that. Well. I'm shocked. You're ready to get in on some junior races next race night," he admitted with a shrug. He was slightly hurt she'd gone behind his back and gotten so good at racing without him. He had wanted to teach her himself, make her his protégé.

"You're mad at me for working on this with Letty aren't you?" Ever perceptive, Nyssa picked up on his hurt feelings. She refused to call them hurt to his face, knowing he wouldn't like it one bit. Saying he was angry seemed a lot safer.

"No," he denied, even though she had again hit the nail on the head. "What makes you think that?"

"The look on your face and the way you're talking to me. I thought you'd be happy and proud of me for learning so fast and it seemed like you were always busy. I know you have your work, whatever it is so I'm not saying that you ignored me or anything." She was quick to explain her position. She didn't want it to sound like she was whining or accusing him of ignoring her. She was just trying to tell it like she saw it. "It just happened that Letty and I had free time together quite a lot so I took the initiative and learned with her. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."

"Nothing like that, I know I've been busy, but I liked teaching you. I liked the time we spent together."

"And now we can race together and we'll be team mates for sure."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave a squeeze. He was slightly hurt, as irrational as he knew it was. He wasn't going to go into it any further though. It was bad enough that she had figured out he hadn't merely been angry, but hurt as well.

When they got back to the garage Vince sent Nyssa to hang with Letty and had a conversation with Dom where he informed him of Nyssa's progress behind the wheel.

"She's ready for some small time races Brotha. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes."

"You don't think she'll choke under pressure?"

"Not if the pressure of racing against me is anything to go by. She beat me." Vince caught himself admitting to being beaten by a girl and shook his shaggy head with a grimace. "I mean, she had the power of surprise on her side an all." He fought for recovering some of his dignity.

Dom smirked. "Yeah, sure. That's it. I'm surprised. I didn't think she'd be good enough to hit the streets until a few weeks before racewars. But if you think she's ready we might as well try to set up some amateur stuff the next time we hit the warehouse."

Vince only nodded his approval before leaving the office.


	23. It All Comes Together

Chapter 23 -It all comes together

Nyssa walked up to Letty. "So," she started.

"So what?" Letty asked, quirking one brow in question.

"Looks like Dom just gave me permission to start racing. They figure I'm finally good enough."

"That's great!" Letty took a moment to hug her friend. They went back to working on the car Letty had been assigned to.

In the office with the door closed Vince paced. He didn't quite know how to broach his topic with Dom without getting yet another lecture about his suspicious nature. "Listen Brotha, I just don't trust Brian, not as far as I could throw him. He's gotta be up to somethin'. He's a damn cop! I just know it."

"Listen V, I know you don't want Mia to date other guys but you need to let it go. You're with Nyssa now and you need to just get over Mia. It's time to let it go."

"It's not even about Mia and the punk. I _am_ over Mia. I'm that damn sure that Spilner is a pig, Dom."

"Brian isn't a cop," Dom continued to insist.

Vince simply wasn't willing to take Dom's word for it. He thought of something on the spot he could use to test Brian, and hopefully prove to Dom that he was wrong about Brian all along. "Ok then brotha, you won't mind if we follow his ass tonight just to see what he does with his free time."

"Fine Vince, but you'll see. He'll spend most of the night here working on his car and then go home to bed."

"You're on Dom, because I bet he does cop stuff."

Dom gave up with a sigh and Vince left the office. He went to help Leon and Jesse for awhile. Dom came back onto the shop floor and they all worked hard at finishing their jobs before the end of the day. After they finished and locked up they headed home in a group of highly tuned cars, turning heads all along the roads between shop and home.

They sat down to supper as a team and ate. After the meal was over and the cleanup was all done, Vince and Dom broke it to the girls that they, Leon and Jesse had something to do for the evening and were heading out without an idea when they would return.

"If it's some sorta team activity why the hell can't I go?" Letty asked Dom irately as he was putting on his boots at the door.

"It's just guy stuff Lett. Stay home with Mia and Nyssa."

The answer didn't sit well with Letty. To Letty, there was no such thing as 'guy stuff'. In her mind she could do anything the guys could do and could likely even do it better than they could.

Seeing that she wasn't going to take her exclusion laying down Dom pulled her aside. "I need you to stay here with Nyssa and make sure she stays put. We're going off on some harebrained scheme of Vince's and _I_ don't even want to be involved. But we really can't afford to have Nyssa involved because she doesn't know what we're getting up to. If you stay home she's more likely to buy the story that it's a guy thing."

"What are you doing?" Letty asked suspiciously.

Not seeing a way to avoid answering her, Dom surrendered. "Vince wants to follow Brian and make sure he doesn't do anything suspicious with his free time. I tried to talk him out of it, but there was no reasoning with him. You know how sure he is that Brian's hiding something, that he's a cop. I figure when we waste a night watching him hang out at Harry's and go to bed it'll calm Vince down and convince him there's nothing more to Brian than what we see."

"I wouldn't wanna be stuck in some overheated car with the four-a you anyways," Letty gave in, making it sound like she wasn't going by choice, not because Dom told her not to.

"I know you wouldn't." Dom chose to let her have her illusions and gave her a quick kiss. He returned to Vince, Leon and Jesse. They decided to take the Jetta, as it was the least recognizable car on the team. They got into the car and headed off toward 'The Racer's Edge.' When they arrived it was to find no sign of Brian or the red F150 that Harry had provided for him to drive.

The fact that Brian wasn't 'at home' did surprise Dom, but he still figured there were lots of other things Brian could be doing. Many other things that didn't mean Brian was a cop either.

They left 'The Racer's Edge' and drove around the neighbourhood aimlessly for a few minutes until Vince had an idea.

"We need to go to Hector's club. I have this feeling we'll find Brian there, or sniffing around someone else's garage."

"Fine," Dom answered shortly. He didn't really care where they went at this point as long as they did something that would satisfy Vince's need to track Brian down. He was getting tired of driving around, not knowing where to go. He was intrigued by the fact Brian hadn't been at home. He knew there was no law against Brian going out, but with working two jobs and all, Dom figured that he should be tired out and getting some rest, not out running the roads.

Vince checked to ensure that his 9mm was still tucked into the back of his jeans where he'd left it. He had his shotgun in the trunk of the car, but was content to leave it there, for the time being. They rolled up to Hector's club, which was on the same lot as his garage. They first went into the club parking lot, which was where all the action happened at Le Gato Negro anyway and asked around of some people they knew. No one had seen 'the snowman' or the red pickup. They shot the breeze with Hector a while longer before getting back into the Jetta and pretending to leave. They actually circled the building to the back to check the ally behind the garage. As soon as the headlights illuminated the red F150 Jesse killed them and cut the engine, coasting into a dark corner.

"Jesse, you stay here and keep an eye out for company, if you get any call us on the two way." Dom gave the instructions. He was shocked to find Brian's truck there, he couldn't think of any good reason for Brian to be parked at Hector's if he hadn't been there to hang out at the Latin man's club.

"Right Dom." Jesse slid down low in the seat and started to keep watch.

Vince retrieved the shotgun from the trunk of the Jetta and slung it over his shoulder after checking to ensure it was loaded but the safety was on.

"Is all that firepower really necessary Vince? This is just Brian, not an army of Trans." Dom didn't want Vince to act first and think later as he was so prone to doing. If they found Brian and he set one foot out of line, Vince was like as not to blow his brains out all over the garage wall.

"I'm not going after this guy without weapons Dom. He's a damn cop. Can't you see it? He's trying to find out where the civics that are popping those trucks are stashed. Why else would he be here? You know full well that Hector is building three Civics in here."

"Shut up Vince," Dom hissed. "Don't talk about that around here. You don't know who could be listening. Besides, I don't think Brian is smart enough to be a cop, and I think he's more than likely here to steal a car or two. He's probably right back into his old tricks of boosting cars. That's what he did time for in Arizona. He figures he needs the money for his car and for race wars."

"Where the hell is he going to sell Hector's crappy Civic? The thing is so well known that no one would buy it anyway."

"If he puts in on a truck or a ship and sends it to another state it would sell for a pretty good amount I think. Parts alone would be worth enough to make it worth his while.

"Fine. Let's go find the guy and see what we come up with."

"You go look, I'll wait here to keep an eye out for anyone who comes around."

"Fine with me Dominic, I'll see what I can find." Vince headed off toward the rear of the dark building.

"And Vince?"

Dom's call brought him up short. "What?"

"No matter what you find don't kill him till you bring him back here to speak to me, got it?"

"Fine," Vince said with an exasperated sigh.

Vince walked around the building just in time to see Brian jump down off the roof. He sure wasn't boosting cars down off the roof. _So why was he up there,_ Vince asked himself. He answered his own question. _Because he's a fuckin' cop, that's why_.

Dom couldn't see how badly he was misjudging this one. What was it about Brian Earl Spilner that made Dominic want to trust the guy? He wasn't trustworthy and the team had enough people on it the way it was, was fine the way it had always been. Knowing that Hector had three Honda Civics in his garage only made Vince even more wary. Now why would Brian be interested in a garage with three Honda Civics in it, Vince asked himself rhetorically.

When Brian's feet hit the ground the butt of Vince's shotgun hit him on the back of the head, knocking him out before he could turn around or utter any sound. He reached down and grabbed a handful of the back of the punk's tee shirt, dragging him over to where Dominic was waiting in the shadows.

"Found the fucker climbing off the roof of Hector's garage, not a stolen car in sight." Vince growled. Dom gave Vince a look that clearly said 'shut your mouth'.

Dom broke eye contact with Vince and looked down at Brian before he spoke. "Brian, this is one of those times when you need to be very clear about what you say to me. Nod if you understand." Dom was starting to believe Brian was up to something but still had a hard time believing he was a cop.

Brian didn't move, he was frozen with fear at the sight of Vince with a shotgun trained on him. He didn't trust Vince, he thought he was a big stupid guy who would pull the trigger without a second thought.

"Nod!" Vince yelled with an irate gesture with the gun.

Brian figured he better do as he was told, or risk having his head blown off. He nodded his head minutely.

"What the hell are you doing down here?" Dom asked after telling Brian to sit up.

"He moans like a cop." Vince was so sure Brian was a cop. "He's a cop!" Vince shouted.

"You a cop?" Dom asked Brian. Brian shook his head no.

Brian gave some story about how he had to know what cars people had because he couldn't afford to lose again in answer to Dom's question. The story was such a load of horse shit Vince could smell it a mile away. He didn't buy it for a second. It seemed that Dom was starting to. It was like Dom knew there was more to the story than Brian was letting on, but he still didn't believe that Brian was out to sell them up the river

"So you're telling me you were going to drive around and check everyone's shit out?" Dom asked. Brian nodded yes in answer. "Let's go for a little drive." Dom started toward the Jetta. Vince got Brian up and shoved him once he started walking toward the car. After they were all loaded into the Jetta again they turned it toward Saigon, or the Tran's turf. They were going to check out Tran's garage.

They again left Jesse to watch their backs and went in. Again they found Honda Civics, only this time the cars had no motors. Vince called Dom over to look into the engine bay of one of the cars. Dom took in the gaping black hole where the engine should be.

"What are they planning on racing with? Hopes and dreams?" Dom asked no one in particular. Vince looked around for Brian and found him snooping in the back of the garage. Before he could draw Dom's attention to this the two way beeped.

"Jesse."

"Dom you have a wolf pack headed your way fast, it's Tran."

They all hid in the back of the garage in a mad scramble not to be caught by Johnny Tran. The found out as they watched a man being beaten by Johnny just where the engines for the Civics were.

"Guess a couple of Nissan SR20 engines will pull a premium right before race wars won't they Ted?"

They watched as Tran proceeded to assault the fence named Ted who dared to steal their engines. The Trans were ruthless, not to be messed with. Ted's life would have stayed a lot easier had he remembered that.

Vince had noticed Brian's interest in the stacks of DVD players and he was more convinced than ever that Brian was a cop sent to figure out who was popping the trucks. That spelled trouble for them if Dom insisted on letting him get close to the team, which he seemed determined to do. The Trans left and the crew drove Brian back to his truck. It was a quiet trip. Everyone was thinking about what they had seen, and in the case of Vince, what had precipitated it.

On the way back to the house Vince and Jesse tried to convince Dom that Brian was a cop but Dom wasn't having it. Vince and Jesse shared a look and Vince could feel that Jesse figured that he was over reacting too, despite his protests.

Man, how much more evidence did they need that the guy was a cop? He was sniffing around garages, checking out Civics, trying to get close to Dom, who everyone knew, knew everything there was to know about street racing and its world. Not that the people jacking the trucks had to be racers but the victims and witnesses had seen Letty's crazy driving and knew it was someone who could drive. When all those things added up there was only one reason that made logical sense why Brian was around. Because he was a damn cop. If the evidence they had found tonight hadn't convinced Dom however, nothing would.

When they got home it was 12am and the girls were playing video games in the living room. Vince walked over to them and stood over Nyssa who was lying on the floor. The game ended with her as the victor before she looked up at him and smiled.

"Hey V, how was your boys night out?" she questioned with a stretch.

"Fine, you ready for bed?" he asked irately. He needed to get away from the rest of the team for awhile. Hanging out playing video games wasn't in the cards for him.

"No, it's only 12. I'm not tired yet. I'm hungry, to tell you the truth."

"Well let's go for a drive then, I gotta get away from this for awhile."

Nyssa had no idea what he had to get away from since he was supposed to have just had a night out with his boys but she _was_ hungry and Vince could be convinced to take her to Wendy's while they were out. She stood up and Vince checked her out. Her hair was down and she was wearing a little leather skirt and a white tank top. She looked too good to be true after the frustrating evening he had. He practically pulled her out to the car before roaring off down the street with a squeal. He wanted to get away before Dom wanted to talk. He couldn't hear anything more about how there was nothing wrong with Spilner.

"So you wanna tell me what's eating you? Or is it a secret?"

"Yes it's a secret but I'm going to tell you anyway, just not in a lot of detail." Vince sighed as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Ok. Whatever will make you turn back to a normal colour and not have an aneurism."

Vince gave her a dirty look and turned in the direction of Wendy's. Without even asking he knew that was where she wanted to go and he knew she wanted a large frosty with a straw and nachos. That was what she always wanted at this hour of the night.

He started his story. "We decided to follow Brian this evening to see if we could catch him at anything. Well I made Dom do it, he didn't really want to. We did catch him down snooping in Hector's garage. Seems Brian was snooping in every garage were Civics are stashed." Vince went on to tell her that she might have heard about the truck robberies on the news and how Vince thought that Brian was hoping to find out that the team was doing it. And that even after all that Dom still didn't believe Vince that Brian was a cop.

Nyssa played devil's advocate. "Maybe he's not a cop. Maybe he just wants in on the money from the trucks and he wants to figure out what team's doing it. Maybe he figured Dom would know and he could get the info out of Dom, but when that was taking too long he started to snoop to find out what team he should suck up to next."

Vince gave her a look that clearly said he knew how many holes that story had. She held his gaze for a moment before carrying on. "So what, maybe you're right and Brian is a cop. Even if he is, so what? What can you, can we, do about it? If Dom doesn't believe you now he's not likely to start any time soon."

"I don't know what we can do, but it has to be something. We can't have a fuckin' pig around right now." That was about when it occurred to Vince that Nyssa seemed to understand how important it was that Brian not find out anything about the civics. He knew as soon as that realization washed over him that Nyssa knew it was his team popping the trucks. She had never let on to anyone, so far as he knew. He knew she hadn't ever done or said anything that would lead him to believe she knew. If she had managed to keep her knowledge from him, she had likely managed to keep it from everyone else. If she was going to give away something that would reveal her knowledge to anyone, it would likely be him. They spent the most quiet, one on one time together.

"So," he stared conversationally. "When did you figure it out?"

"Figure what out V?" She looked at him in confusion.

"That it was us."

"I don't know what you're talking about baby," she answered before she ruffled his hair even more then it already was.

"Yes you do, you've known for awhile it is our team popping the trucks but you never let on or anything. When did you figure it out?"

She took a big drink of frosty, which he loved, because you were supposed to eat them but she drank hers, and thought about her answer for a second. "You really wanna know Vince, or would it be better to pretend I don't know and you don't know that I do, don't know. Man that was a confusing statement. But I think you understand what I mean."

"Yeah, I get what you're trying to get at but I still wanna know."

"I figured it out the morning after the one you did with me living with you. It all fit too perfectly. I mean you couldn't sleep and did something strenuous enough to open up your cut the night a truck got hijacked and I heard about it on the news on the way to school. Letty must be the one that does the crazy shit like driving under the trailers eh?"

"You got that right. Don't let on you know, ok?"

"Sure, I would've been just as happy not to know. I'd rather think you're just out driving cause you can't sleep than out risking your life hijacking trucks."

"Why didn't you say anything sooner? Does it bother you?"

"I didn't say anything cause it was none of my business, and yes it bothers me just because it's so fucking dangerous it blows my mind and I don't want to think about what could happen to you. What's your role in the whole thing?"

"You probably don't want to know," he hedged.

"Now you have to tell me Vince, it'll be worse for me not to know now."

"I'm the one that climbs onto the truck."

"Oh Jesus, why did I ask? Man, I never want to talk about it again, you're crazy. Certifiable." She sighed before pointing off to the left of the road, where the edge of her property had started. "Let's stop here for awhile." She knew the place was remote and deserted. Anyone around was trespassing.

"Why would you want to stop here?"

"Because if you expect people to believe we were out 'relieving our stress' in the back seat of your car, it's going to be easier to sell it if we look the part."

He pulled over with a chuckle. You weren't going to find him complaining about that plan.

It was over an hour later by the time they got home, both of them looking dishevelled. No one asked them anything as they headed downstairs to bed. It was obvious what had kept them, but it didn't stop the team from sharing a look. What had brought their need to leave the house instead of just going to bed?


	24. Stay in My Office

Chapter 23 – Stay in My Office.

The rest of spring went by swiftly. With summer came Nyssa's graduation from high school. No one made a big deal of it, as it was what she wanted. She should have graduated a year earlier, after all. Since everyone knew it made her feel too young to be around them to be reminded she had met them as a high school student, they respected her wishes.

Now that she didn't have school tying up her days, she spent most of her time working with Letty at the garage. Letty was teaching her basics such as setting cars up with the jack and doing oil changes. Mia came by often to teach her how to do the books and work the front desk. As Nyssa got better at all the organizational work around the garage Mia came around less and less. The privilege of doing so was one Mia had thanked Nyssa for repeatedly. She was very glad to be handing over the reigns to someone who had some interest in cars and garages. Mia did not in the slightest. Dominic even seemed more inclined to do his share when he had Nyssa forcing him to. It was like it was too easy for him to say no to his sister.

Brian's car was coming along nicely and was almost a whole, intact car again. Over the course of rebuilding it Brian and Dom had spent a lot of time together and were closer than ever. This was a fact not lost on Vince, and continued to make him angry every time he thought about it or saw it in action. Vince didn't spend a lot of time at the garage. It wasn't his primary job. But when he wasn't around for one reason or another he still always came by to take Nyssa out for lunch. Whenever this crossed over with Brian's time in the shop it was clear that Vince barley restrained his need to hit Brian over and over again. Yet he did somehow restrain himself each time, much to the shock and amazement of the team. Everyone assumed it had a lot to do with not wanting to disappoint Nyssa, who was fast becoming the only person whose opinion on such a matter would carry any weight with him. Other than Dominic, that was.

The first time Nyssa would have to participate in a race against people who were not on her team had been set and would be taking place that Saturday night. The date looming in front of her had her nervous all week. She was almost out of her mind worrying about it. Even though Vince reassured her every day and night that she was ready and he had every confidence she could win, her feelings of worry weren't removed.

That he cared to try and reassure her touched her deeply. She had a hard time thinking back to the days of her life that didn't have Vince in them. She thought she might even be in love with him, but she just wasn't really sure. She hadn't ever been in love with anyone before and had no frame of reference for how it would make her act, how it would make her feel. She was fairly sure it was love. What else could it mean that the thought of her life without him in it didn't have any appeal to her? She certainly wasn't ready to share the extent of her feelings with him, at any rate. He had never expressed anything of the sort to her and she knew with some instinct she didn't have to attribute to her ability to just know things that if she admitted she might love him it would scare the bejeesus out of him. He seemed to miss her when they were apart and he certainly looked out for her wellbeing and safety, took her side in arguments most of the time and did a million other little things that showed he cared about her. But was it love?

It was about two weeks after she had had the truck situation confirmed for her by Vince that Manda showed up at the shop to invite her to the night out they had all discussed at her aunt Karen's birthday party. They were all going out this coming Friday and had wanted to be sure Nyssa knew she was invited to come along if she wanted to.

Nyssa really wanted to go, but she was still only nineteen and had no ID to use to get into a club. She looked around her and found the team was all out of earshot, back in the garage, leaving her alone with her cousin in the reception area, such as it was.

"I really wanna go but I can't. I don't have any way to get in. If they card me I won't be able to show them ID and I'll die of embarrassment."

Manda fished around in her purse. She finally came out with an ID card and handed it over. "That should take care of that."

Nyssa looked down at the driver's licence in her hand. The picture was of her, that much was true. But the name, address, and birthday were incorrect. Going by the date of birth on the driver's licence in her hand, she was twenty-two.

"Manda, this ID is fake," she said. "Hold up, wait a second. This is a fake ID!" Nyssa squealed and hugged Manda over the counter. "How did you get this?"

"I know a guy that makes them. You can get into the club with that. I got one too, see?" She held up her own fake driver's licence. "So you coming with us now or what?"

"Of course, wouldn't miss it. I just need a story to tell Vince. He hates it when I drink." Nyssa imparted the reason behind why it didn't fill Vince with joy to see her with a beer in her hand and Manda laughed herself into a state of tears. "So it's this Friday, like tomorrow night that they're going, right?" Nyssa asked.

"Yep, tomorrow night. You should just tell these guys you're staying at my house for the night since its been so long, then just stay over after. Than you don't have to come home here drunk."

"I don't know about that Manda, I find it hard to sleep alone now. I can get ready at your place though. Then we can drive over to one of the girls houses so your mom and dad don't get catch on to what we're doing. You know they'd freak."

"You got that right."

"It's set than, I'll head over to your place around 7 tomorrow night, then we'll get all ready to go and go to, say, Janet's. Then we can head down from there. I'll come home after though."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll go home to Janet's cause I can't go home to my house wasted."

"OK, see you tomorrow."

Nyssa waved goodbye as Manda walked out the front door. Dom walked out of the shop just as the door was closing behind the blonde.

"Who was that?"

"Just my cousin. She came to see how I was since we haven't seen each other since grad night."

"Oh, ok." Dom nodded his understanding.

"Listen, I wanna take off soon and go shopping. I need some stuff and I wanna get to the mall before it gets too late."

"Go whenever. You could go now if you wanted to. There's nothing else coming in or going out for the rest of the day so we're just gonna work on the Supra. You really don't need to be here for that."

"Ok, thanks Dom. Just tell Vince where I went if he goes looking for me, ok?"

"Yeah, sure," Dom answered distractedly. He was clearly already under the engine bonnet of the Supra in his mind.

Nyssa left the shop and ran home. She changed out of her dirty shop clothes before she tore off toward the mall and parked the car. She wandered in and looked through a few stores before she found anything to take her attention. The first thing she found that she had to have was a new top. It was purple, which was one of her favourite colours. It was shot through with silver strands and covered her well from the front. The rear was three simple straps, one across her neck, one across her shoulder blades and one across a point just above the small of her back, which was where the bottom of the shirt was, leaving her belly button exposed. The sleeves were slit from wrist to shoulder, but held together with two straps, one at the wrist and one at the elbow.

She didn't find anything else she liked in that store so she bought the shirt and left, wandering farther into the mall. In another store she tried on a pair of leather hipster flare bottom pants. They rode so low on her hips she knew if they weren't so tight they'd just fall off. The flairs hit her feet all the way to the floor and she knew with her boots only the very ends of the toes would show. The pants came equipped with a funky belt which resembled chain mail and suited her new shirt. She was pleased with how her outfit worked together and looked on her.

She left for home and made it in time to help Mia with cooking dinner. It was all she could do to keep her plans to herself. She was very excited about the chance to get out with a group of girls and have fun. She was also excited to get inside a bar for the first time. It was something the old Nyssa wouldn't have even considered doing, using fake ID to get into a club when she wasn't old enough. It was one of those things she was glad she had grown out of her shell enough to try.

She knew she was going to need a story to tell Vince about where she was going. If he didn't know where she went and when she expected to be home he'd go searching for her and that wouldn't do at all. He was fairly protective of her most of the time. She loved it because she knew it meant he cared where she was and what happened to her, but it would ruin everything if he figured out she was up to something, found her, and dragged her home before she was ready and embarrassed her in front of all her friends, relatives and strangers.

When they finished eating they went into the living room to watch a movie. She helped Mia clean up first and when they started the movie Brian showed up. He and Mia sat together on one of the couches. Dom pulled Letty into his lap on the big chair. Leon and Jesse stretched out on the floor like they always did and she curled up next to Vince on the far couch.

"V?" she asked from her position curled up against his side.

"Um?" he asked, clearly only half listening.

"Tomorrow night I'm going over to Manda's. We're going to go shopping and watch some chick flick movies. We're having sort of a girls night and if I come home from Manda's house it's gonna be late."

"That sounds fun. Have a nice time," he said before giving her a quick kiss. He then leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear. "We're going on a job tonight, late."

She gave him one of her looks. The one that he couldn't stand. The one that let him know she hated him doing what they were all doing. It didn't bother him because he knew she didn't hate it because it made him a criminal. She hated it because of the danger it placed him and all of their family in. But they were onto a big job, the mother lode, and Dom wasn't going to hear of stopping until that huge heist was out of the way. The rest of the team knew that trying to get him to stop before the big job in the summer was done was futile, even though they all figured it was time to get out while the getting was good. Dom wouldn't hear of it.

But after the big one was done, Vince was out. It was time to take a break before something bad happened. They would be set financially for a long time, for life even, if they were careful what they did with the money. His own bank account contained more money than he'd ever dreamed of seeing in one place at the same time as it stood. In fact, it wasn't even his regular bank account. He, and everyone off the team had had to get offshore accounts. It wouldn't do to deposit large amounts of cash into a regular bank account days after a truck of high priced merchandise got lifted. The fact remained that in that account he had enough money to live pretty much any way he wanted for the rest of his life and never worry about cash again.

It wasn't like they only did it for the money. They all got off on the rush, him more so than anyone. It was obvious the whole team were adrenaline junkies. Who else raced cars at extreme speeds on public streets for thrills first and money second? It was just that he was at a point in his life where he really didn't want to die or go to jail. Not now, when he was starting to have something he really cared about to live for.

When the movie ended Nyssa stood up. "I'm off to bed guys, night."

The rest of the team, save Vince watched her go in puzzlement. Nyssa going to bed at twelve was very strange. Ever since school had ended, there really hadn't been a night she headed down to bed before two am. And she normally would never have gone without Vince. But it all came together when Vince followed her downstairs not five minutes later.

Brian took Mia out for a drive. The rest of the team watched them go, relieved to have Brian out of the house early so they wouldn't have to try and find a way to get rid of him later, when they went to do their job.

"I hope Vince doesn't exhaust himself now in the preshow. We need him to bring his A game tonight," Dom tried to jest.

"No kidden'," Leon added with a laugh.

Letty gave them both a look like the humour in Dom's statement was lost on her. "When are we gonna tell Nyssa what's what anyway?"

"Not until after race wars. Got it?" Dom looked from Letty to Leon to Jesse. "No one says anything to either Nyssa or Brian until after they prove themselves at racewars."

"I think Nyssa needs to know now Dominic. She lives here. This shit has the potential to affect her as much if not more than all of us. What'd happen to her if something happened to Vince?"

"If something happened to Vince, and it won't, but if it did, we would still take care of Nyssa. She's part of this team now, she's just not in deep enough to be trusted with this. I won't get rid of her if Vince wasn't around anymore."

"I still think she needs to know. I mean, I agree with not telling Brian. It isn't like it stands to hurt Mia personally. I think Nyssa deserves to know what Vince is up against here and make her own decisions if she wants to be part of his life, knowing what could happen to him any night we do a job."

"No way Letty and that's final." Dom put his foot down, in his mind.

Leon looked up at both of them. "It don't matter anyway Dawg. She already knows."

Dom looked up at Leon in shock. He was unable to think of a thing to say in answer to Leon's bombshell. His look got angry. "What do you mean she knows already?" he asked in his deceptively calm voice.

Leon held his hands out in surrender. "Well I didn't tell her, I just get a feeling she knows already."

"How do you figure she knows anything? Who would have told her?"

"Well, she's smart Dom, you saw the marks she graduated with, she's as smart as Mia. And the way she looks at Vince on the nights before a job, she looks so worried and desperate I just think she knows. That's why they went to bed early. He's going to tell her it'll be fine and she'll cry, they'll make up, you know how it is with females." Leon looked at Letty and caught the look on her face. "Well, most females," he amended.

"You could be right," Dom conceded. "Well, if she figured it out than she figured it out but no one talks about it in the open 'til after wars and no one mentions anything at all around Brian. I trust him but he hasn't proven himself enough to be trusted with this."

.

"Vince you need to promise me you'll be careful."

"I'm always careful Nys, I'll be fine, It'll be fine. Dom's been talking about surprising Letty with a trip after the next one, and we'll go with them ok? You and me, the beach, no garage, no trucks, just the two of us. Ok?" She was looking at the floor, he tipped her head back and she looked him in the eye. "It'll be fine Nys, I swear." He hated the worry in her eyes.

She kissed him and he felt all the worry and the fear in her kiss. He tried to put all his confidence in his kiss, needing to reassure her without words. Words didn't come easily and he always messed them up, but she had to understand this. She had to know he would be ok, that he would make sure of it if for no other reason than to come back to her. They went to bed and he set the alarm for 2:45am.

"Vince, I want you to wake me up and tell me when you're leaving."

"Aw, come on Nys. If you just sleep through it than I'll be home before you even miss me."

"I want you to wake me up and say good-bye Vince, so promise me you'll wake me up and say good-bye."

"Ok, I promise I'll let you know when I'm leaving. I won't say good-bye because I'll be back three hours after I leave."

"Ok," she agreed before giving him a final kiss. "Try to get some sleep."

He did manage to grab a few hours sleep and the alarm startled him awake when it went off. The alarm rarely woke Nyssa, and this wasn't an exception. He was tempted to let her keep right on sleeping. If he didn't wake her now he could wake her when he got back and they'd have some time to make up about the whole not waking her in the middle of the night thing. But he'd promised and she'd be very upset if he broke his promise. He wasn't sure he wanted to catch that much hell, even if it would mean getting to make up. He shook her gently.

"I'm going now baby. I'll be home around 7am."

"V, be careful. Please be so careful. I want you home in one piece. Promise me you'll be careful."

"I plan on it girl. I'll see you soon. I'll bring you some of those rolls with the chocolate you like for breakfast. See you soon. Go to sleep and I'll be home before you know it."

"Ok, Vince." She agreed. He kissed her goodbye and left.

He just wished she felt as secure about the whole thing as he did. He hated to leave her worrying. He stood beside the bed for a few minutes and watched as she went back to sleep. Vince left his room and met Leon and Jesse in the living room downstairs. They confronted him that Nyssa knew already.

"Yeah, she does, but I didn't tell her. She figured it out off the radio and how the driving is done."

"What does she think about it Dawg?"

"She hates it because she thinks some day one of us will be telling her about the one of us that didn't make it back. And since she weaseled out of me what everyone's job is, and didn't take mine well, I guess she figures if anyone ain't makin it back, it's me. Your asses she could get over losing, me on the other hand," Vince tried to make it a joke. "Otherwise she didn't really care. She never tried to tell me how wrong I was or that I should stop right now or anything like that. Well, other than the whole thing about us getting hurt."

Leon and Jesse nodded their understanding and they all headed up the stairs. It had been Dom's idea for Leon and Jesse to try and find out from Vince if Nyssa knew already or not. Dom gave Leon a look and Leon nodded almost imperceptiblely. Dom got the message loud and clear. Nyssa knew. There was nothing that could be done about it now. If she knew she knew. They headed out into the night and drove to the civics. They found the truck without incident and the job went smoothly from there.

.

Brian got a phone call on his cell phone around 5am.

"They struck again, we roll on Tran unless you say otherwise, if you agree just say yes."

"Yeah." Brian couldn't prove it wasn't Tran, but he hoped against hope it wasn't Dom. Tran behind the whole thing would make life so much easier for him.

"Who was that?" a sleepy Mia asked from the other side of his bed.

"A wrong number. Hi."

.

When they had the cars stashed again, Vince took off on his own and retrieved the chocolate filled croissants that Nyssa loved so much. By the time he got home it was eight am so he woke Nyssa up. They ate together in bed before she showed him just how glad she was that he made it home in one piece. He fell into a deeply contented sleep afterward and Nyssa stayed curled up in his arms for a time, just being comforted by the fact he was alive and well, snoring gently with his heart beating under her ear. Once she was finally unwound by his presence she got up and got dressed, figuring that if no one else was going to go to DT she should at least go down and put a sign up to tell people they were closed. She figured she might even get her car washed with nothing else to intrude on her time there.

When she crested the stairs it was to find Dominic sitting at the kitchen table.

_Damn, why isn't that boy in bed_, she wondered to herself. She really didn't want to deal with Dom. She just wanted to get out of the house and go wash her car. Dom made her edgy. He was one person she still found it hard to read and it threw her off balance. Anyone else she would have half an idea what they were thinking and at the very least would pick up their mood. Dom wasn't half that easy. "Dom you look like shit! Do you want me to make you something to eat before I head out? I think it was like six am or seven when I heard Mia roll in so you'll be waiting a while on her to do it."

"I'm fine. Not hungry. Take a seat." He indicated the chair across the table from his own position.

Nyssa sat with great trepidation. She had more than half an idea where this situation was going. He knew she knew. The only question left remaining was, what would he do about it now that he figured it out?

"So when did you figure it all out, and how?" He asked point blank.

"The morning V let me take his car to drive myself to school. I had the radio playing a local news channel and it told all about this robbery and the precision driving that had been used. Plus, it was the morning that Vince somehow managed to reopen his cut after he couldn't sleep and went for a drive to clear his head. He was a little too tired and sore to just have gone for a drive around, you know? It just all fell into place, especially after they talked about the crazy driving, which having been in a car with her, just reeked of Letty. You don't have to worry. I won't tell anyone and I don't really care, other than the fact I hate how dangerous it is for all of you and I'd hate to see any or all of you in trouble or in jail over it."

"You're likely too smart for your own good," Dom growled. He didn't seem all that angry, which pleased Nyssa to no end. It had gone a lot better than what she had envisioned, had Dom ever figured out she knew. "But you are not to say anything about this to anyone. Especially not Brian."

"I'd never tell Brian anything. I don't trust him at all."

Dom grunted. "Not you too? He's not a damn cop. I just can't see it."

"I never said he was a cop. I said I don't totally trust his motivations. Anyway, I'm going to the garage if you don't need anything."

"Naw, I'm good. You go on."

When she got to the garage she opened up, figuring if anyone came around she could make them appointments for another day and tell them that they weren't opening until late today. As she was leaning on the counter reading one of Mia's magazines the little bell over the door tinkled.

She looked up and saw a very well dressed man walk in. He looked around the little reception area then walked up to her.

"I'm looking for Dom Toretto," the man said.

"Dom's not here right now, would you like to leave a message?"

"No, this is important, I need to speak to him now."

"Well, he's home sick right now, so you can leave a message or come back later."

"You must know how to reach him, just do so and tell him that Colin is here to see him. He'll come down."

"Fine, I'll call him, but if he's not happy you're dealing with him anyway."

"Yes, fine, fine, just call him please."

Nyssa turned around and went into Dom's office were the man could not hear her but she could still see him through the window of the office and called home. Dom answered on the second ring. He could never sleep after a job, she knew that, if she thought he was asleep nothing could have made her call.

"Hello," Dom said, and Nyssa could tell he was still in pissy humour. "Heya Dom. It's Nyssa."

"What's up?" Dom sounded somewhat less grumpy when he thought it might involve his precious shop.

"Some guy is here saying that he has to see you. I told him you were sick at home but he won't take no for an answer."

"Who is it?"

"He claims his name is Colin and said you would want to see him."

"Ah shit. Yeah I'll be right down. And Nyssa?"

"Yeah Dom?"

"If you're in my office now, just stay there. Even better, here, talk to Jesse." Dom handed off the phone to Jesse and Nyssa heard him tell Jesse to keep her on the phone 'til she told him that Dom was in the shop.

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